Iowa State basketball: 3 takeaways from the Cyclones’ win vs. Arizona State

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Next stop: Tucson.

The first leg of Iowa State basketball’s two-game road trip to Arizona went well for the Cyclones.

Iowa State played Arizona State in Tempe on Saturday afternoon, using a late-game surge to pull away for a 76-61 win.

After a back-and-forth second half, the Cyclones closed the game on a 19-3 run to improve to 17-2 overall and 7-1 in Big 12 Conference play.

Curtis Jones had 33 points, seven rebounds and three steals to lead the Cyclones. Joshua Jefferson chipped in a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double with four steals. Keshon Gilbert had 12 points in the winning effort.

Before the Cyclones take on the Arizona Wildcats on Monday night to end their road trip, here are three takeaways from Saturday’s win:

Curtis Jones delivers once again for Iowa State basketball, sets new career-high

Jones played for all but 12 seconds of Saturday’s 40-minute contest.

He barely rested outside of timeouts and halftime. He was so good Saturday afternoon that the Cyclones needed everything they could get out of the senior guard.

More: Hines: Iowa State basketball shows its stuff late again against Arizona State

He finished with a new career-high 33 points on 10-of-22 shooting, with a 5-of-10 clip from beyond the arc. He also had seven boards and three steals.

Jones’ previous career-high came during his days at SUNY Buffalo. He scored 32 points and led the Bulls in a Dec. 3, 2022 win over St. Bonaventure.

His previous season-high was 26 points in a quality road win over Texas Tech.

Jones had 18 of his 33 points in the first half and was crucial in carrying the Cyclones offensively for a large portion of the game. Iowa State had a difficult time getting into a groove in the first half and Jones helped keep the Cyclones within reach while Arizona State was shooting the ball well.

He put the exclamation point on the game-sealing 19-3 run by scoring the last five points of the contest.

Jones scored in a variety of ways. Whether it was from beyond the arc, contested shots, off the dribble or…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/iowa-state-basketball-3-takeaways-120421874.html

Author : The Des Moines Register

Publish date : 2025-01-26 12:04:00

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