Jones, Jefferson help No. 3 Iowa State rally past Iowa, 89-80

Dec 13, 2024, 02:49 am

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- — Curtis Jones scored 23 points, Joshua Jefferson added 19 points and 10 rebounds and No. 3 Iowa State overcame a 13-point deficit to beat Iowa 89-80 on Thursday night.

Iowa State (8-1) snapped a four-game road losing streak in the series.

Nate Heise made a layup with 3:05 left to give the Cyclones a 76-74 advantage, their first lead of the game. Iowa State took advantage of cold shooting by Iowa (7-3). The Hawkeyes missed 14 of 15 shots in an 8 1/2-minute stretch late in the second half.

Dishon Jackson had 12 points and Tamin Lipsey added 11 for Iowa State.

Owen Freeman led Iowa with 16 points. Josh Dix had 14 points, and Payton Sandfort added 13.

Takeaways

Iowa State: The Cyclones didn’t let the Hawkeyes get away in the first half even though they weren’t making 3-pointers. Iowa State missed nine of its first 10 threes, but Lipsey’s 3-pointer 20 seconds into the second half got that part of the offense going. Iowa State was 3 of 13 in 3-pointers in the first half, 8 of 15 in the second half.

Iowa: The Hawkeyes, who have battled injuries all season, had their full roster available for the first time this season, but coach Fran McCaffery kept the rotation tight, using only eight players. Iowa made a switch in its starting lineup with Ladji Dembele coming off the bench, and he seemed to thrive — he had scored just six points in the previous four games, but had 11 in this game.

Key moment

Freeman was at the free throw line with 3:34 to play in the second half and the game tied at 74. He missed both free throws, the first misses from the line for the Hawkeyes, then the Cyclones took the lead on Heise’s layup 29 seconds later and outscored Iowa 15-6 the rest of the way.

Key stat

This was the first single-digit game in a while in the nonconference rivalry. The last six games were decided by an average of 20.3 points.

Up next

The Cyclones begin a two-game home stretch to conclude nonconference play, playing Omaha on Sunday. The Hawkeyes host New Orleans on Sunday.

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