Brockington leads No. 17 Iowa State to 73-53 win over Iowa

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Brockington drops Iowa defender for midrange jumper

Izaiah Brockington finesses a smooth jumper after dropping an Iowa defender.

Dec 10, 2021, 05:06 am

AMES, Iowa -- — Izaiah Brockington had 29 points and 10 rebounds as No. 17 Iowa State dominated rival Iowa in a 73-53 victory Thursday night.

Brockington made his first nine shots and finished 11 for 14 from the field to help the surprising Cyclones (9-0) remain undefeated after going 2-22 last season.

Tyrese Hunter added 11 points for Iowa State.

Jordan Bohannon scored 17 for the Hawkeyes (7-3), who shot just 27% and have lost three in a row. Iowa was averaging 90.1 points per game.

“First and foremost, I think we made them uncomfortable,” Brockington said. “We knew we had to make them uncomfortable. That would lead to misses.”

Iowa State started to pull ahead midway through the first half.

Brockington scooped up a loose ball and dunked it for a 20-17 lead. Iowa State went on a 15-2 run and built a 31-19 advantage. The Hawkeyes shot 1 for 14 during that span.

“They did a really good job, defensively, being up in our space,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said.

Bohannon ended Iowa's drought with a 3-pointer that trimmed the margin to 31-22. Iowa State was up 38-26 at halftime.

The Cyclones maintained control in the second half, opening a 52-29 bulge on Hunter's dunk with 13:42 remaining.

Brockington finally missed a shot when his 3-point attempt came up short with 9:07 to go.

He was also the primary defender on Iowa star forward Keegan Murray, who scored just nine points on 4-of-17 shooting.

“It was really quite heroic when you think about it," Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “Not really sure what else he could do.”

BIG PICTURE

Murray was the nation's leading scorer with 23.9 points per game, but Iowa State shut him out for the first 20 minutes. The Cyclones used a variety of double teams to cut off passing lanes and Murray was 0-for-7 shooting before halftime. He missed his first three shots of the second half as well, including a breakaway dunk. Murray finally broke through on a layup with 12:41 left. He had six offensive rebounds and three steals.

UP NEXT

Iowa plays Utah State on Dec. 18.

It'll be a few weeks before Iowa State can add to its list of impressive victories. After beating then-No. 25 Xavier and No. 9 Memphis, earning a road win at Creighton and dispatching Iowa on Thursday, the schedule eases. The Cyclones play Jackson State, Southeastern Louisiana and Chicago State before opening Big 12 play against Baylor on Jan. 1.

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