Second-half rally leads No. 3 ISU over rival Hawkeyes

IOWA CITY, Iowa — No. 3 Iowa State (8-1, 0-0 Big 12) got all it could handle from rival Iowa (7-3, 1-1 Big Ten) on Thursday night, but the Cyclones came through when they did managed to score and erase a 13-point deficit in the first half, defeating the Hawkeyes by a score of 89-80 and earning their first win in Iowa City in 10 years.

Iowa State now leads the annual Cy-Hawk series 11-6 with four more events remaining (swimming and diving, gymnastics, tennis and softball).

Iowa started quickly and controlled the flow of the game for much of the game, leading for just over 33 minutes of play. The resilient Cyclones rallied from an early double-digit deficit to cut the Hawkeyes’ lead to seven at halftime. Iowa continued to hold the Cyclones at bay early in the second half, extending its lead to nine with 12 minutes left.

From there, the Cyclones dug in and went on a 13-4 run to tie the score at 66 until the under-8 media timeout. The Cyclones finally took their first lead of the night with a nice score at 3:05 Joshua Jefferson go to a cut Nate Heiseand extended that lead to as many as 10 as they won by nine.

FIRST MAINLINE OF THE NIGHT FOR IOWA STATE! @CycloneMBB pic.twitter.com/m3z6BOndUT

– FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 13, 2024

Five Cyclones finished the night in double figures, with a great sixth man Curtis Jones He led the way with 23 points – his third 20-plus point performance of the year and his season high. Jefferson had a tremendous performance, earning his third straight double-double with 19 points and 10 boards, 10-12 from the line and an ISU-high seven assists. Dishon Jackson scored 12 points while both Tamin Lipsey (11) and Nate Heise (10) also finished in double digits.

Iowa had six players reach double figures, with big man Owen Freeman scoring a team-high 16 points. Brock Harding finished the game with ten points and a game-high eight assists, while Josh Dix (14), Payton Sandfort (13), Ladji Dembele (11) and Drew Thelwell (10) rounded out the scoring list in double figures. After shooting an outstanding 59 percent from the floor and 54 percent from deep in the first half, the Hawkeyes only shot 32 percent from the floor and 27 percent from deep in the second stanza.

How it happened
Iowa came out of the gates in style, using a 3-of-3 start from the floor and a 2-of-2 start from deep to build an early 8-4 lead. The ISU was able to keep up until the first media break. However, at the second media break, Iowa’s hot shooting continued as the Hawkeyes were 5-6 from distance while ISU was 1-7 and trailed by eight, 25-17.

The Iowa bigs were often open from beyond the arc and made it happen, as Dembele and Freeman combined to make it 3-3 and help Iowa maintain its lead. Iowa’s lead grew to as many as 13 four minutes before halftime. A quick 8-0 run by the Cyclones cut the lead to five before they finally went into the break-down period.

Iowa continued to hold the lead for most of the second half as ISU’s every run attempt was answered by the Hawkeyes. Ultimately, however, the Cyclones were able to get stops and convert on the other end, cutting the lead. By 7:44, the Cyclones had tied the game and could feel the momentum changing.

The Hawkeyes had one last push and were able to go back up by four points with seven minutes left, but the Cyclones came back again and tied the score at 74 with just under four minutes left. The Cyclones took their first lead at 3:05 on a Heise lay-in and would pull away from there.

A layup and jumper from Jones would give the Cyclones the breathing room they needed before ISU would ice things out with clutch shots down the stretch.

Iowa State hit 70 field goals for the fourth straight night on the night TJ Ötzelberger.

Main actor

Joshua Jefferson I did everything for the Cyclones tonight. In his first appearance in Cy-Hawk basketball, Jefferson was just three assists short of a triple double and he dominated the entire night for ISU. He now has four double-doubles this year.

Notes

• Nate Heise played his 100th career game tonight.

  • That night he made his 200th career free throw.

• Joshua Jefferson surpassed 75 free throws in his career.

  • He is now just one assist under 100 in his career.

• Tamin Lipsey made his 275th field goal in an ISU uniform.
• Curtis Jones managed his 350th career rebound and now has 352.
• Keshon Gilbert completed his 200th career assist at Iowa State.
• Milan Momcilovic scored his 50th career assist tonight and now has 51.

Next
Iowa State will return to Hilton Coliseum on Sunday for the first part of a two-game homestand, with an afternoon clash with Omaha. Sunday’s game is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. and will be broadcast on CSB Sports Network.