DeAndre Kane

Iowa State's DeAndre Kane did exactly as his coach had instructed, driving for a layup that gave the Cyclones the lead. North Carolina never got a chance to answer because Roy Williams' players didn't do what he wanted.

In the days after DeAndre Kane decided to transfer to Iowa State, the former Marshall guard sent a simple, five-word text message to new teammate Georges Niang. It said: "I just want to win."

Melvin Ejim hit 20 of 24 shots in scoring a Big 12-record 48 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds to lead No. 16 Iowa State to an 84-69 victory over TCU on Saturday.

Naadir Tharpe scored a career-high 23 points, freshman Andrew Wiggins had 17 points and 19 rebounds and No. 15 Kansas beat No. 8 Iowa State 77-70 on Monday night for its third straight win to open Big 12 play.

Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger had been searching for signs that his young, talented team was growing up. He saw plenty on Saturday. Buddy Hield scored 22 points and Ryan Spangler added 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to help Oklahoma knock off previously unbeaten Iowa State 87-82 Saturday.

Senior point guard DeAndre Kane was supposed to be a one-year stopgap for Iowa State. Kane has evolved into one of the most versatile players in the country -- and the surging Cyclones look like one of the best teams in the nation because of it.