Iowa State basketball: 3 takeaways from Cyclones’ win over Utah

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AMES − Iowa State men’s basketball collected its 10th-straight win on Tuesday night over Utah. The Cyclones’ winning streak is the second-longest in the country, behind San Diego, but the longest of any power-conference team.

It is also the longest win streak for the Cyclones since the 2021-22 season, T.J. Otzelberger’s debut season as Iowa State’s head coach. They went unbeaten to start the year and won 12 straight in a perfect run through non-conference play.

The third-ranked Cyclones defeated the visiting Utes, 82-59, to improve to 13-1 overall and 3-0 in Big 12 Conference play.

Iowa State trailed at one point in the first half, before going on a 21-3 run heading into the halftime break.

Curtis Jones led Iowa State with a game-high 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting. He also had five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Tamin Lipsey was right behind with 20 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Joshua Jefferson had 17 points, while Keshon Gilbert chipped in 15 points.

Here are three takeaways from the Cyclones’ victory over Utah.

More: Iowa State basketball: Jones, Lipsey tie season-high points in Cyclones’ win vs. Utah

Late first-half run wakes up Iowa State, changes the game

Utah’s Gabe Madsen and Miro Little hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 15-2 run to give the Utes a 22-17 lead over Iowa State with 9:07 remaining in the first half.

Keshon Gilbert knocked down a 3-pointer, which broke a four-minute-long scoring drought for the Cyclones, moments before a media timeout. It also started a 21-3 run for Iowa State.

During the media timeout, Otzelberger challenged his Cyclones. They answered the call.

“There’s been times our mental focus, attention to detail throughout the course of the game − there’s been slippage, and so we challenged them,” Otzelberger said. “… It’s really important that we dial in and finish the half the right way and that was really the message, more than anything.”

Iowa State got beat on the glass early. Utah got hot from the perimeter.

After the break,…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/iowa-state-basketball-3-takeaways-120229852.html

Author : The Des Moines Register

Publish date : 2025-01-08 12:02:00

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