BOSTON — A valiant comeback effort came up short as No. 4 Iowa State saw its season come to an end at the hands of No. 10 Illinois, 72-69, in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. ISU finished the season 29-8, registering the second-most wins in school history.
Iowa State trailed by 10 at the half and was able to cut the lead to two points on multiple occasions in the second half, but Illinois (29-8) answered each time.
The Cyclones were led by Curtis Jones, who finished with a season-high 26 points. Jones connected on 4-of-7 three pointers and was 8-for-8 from the line. Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 29 points to lead all scorers.
How It Happened
Iowa State was ice cold to start the game and was forced to play from behind the entire opening half. The Cyclones made just two of their first 12 field goal attempts as Illinois jumped out to a 16-6 lead with 10:54 remaining. After Curtis Jones scored six straight points to cut the lead to just four, the Fighting Illini responded with a 7-0 run, including five points from Shannon, to go up 12 points with just over six and a half minutes left.
Illinois kept the lead between eight and 12 points the remainder of the first half and went into the break leading 36-26 behind Shannon’s 16 points. Curtis Jones scored 13 points and was 4-for-9 from the field, but the remainder of ISU’s roster was just 5-for-22 in the opening stanza.
Illinois got to the line 16 times but made just seven attempts in the first half, keeping the Cyclones in the game despite foul trouble that had five ISU players with at least two fouls.
After a tough first half, Keshon Gilbert came out on fire, scoring the first six points of the second half as ISU closed the gap to just four points. The game teetered back-and-forth but Illinois was able to extend the lead back to eight points with 11:25 remaining.
As they did all season, head coach T.J. Otzelberger‘s team responded. A 6-0 run, capped by a layup from Gilbert, trimmed the Illinois’ lead down to two points (51-49) with 9:46 left.
Curtis Jones’ fourth 3-pointer of the game against cut the Fighting Illini’s lead to two points with 5:22 left in the game, but threes on back-to-back possessions pushed that lead back up to six points and the Cyclones were unable to ever fully gain control as Illinois salted it away at the line.
Top Performers
Curtis Jones posted his high as a Cyclone with 26 points, while Gilbert chipped in 14 points and Tre King had 12 points and seven boards.
Tamin Lipsey had eight points and three steals, moving into a tie for ninth with Ron Harris (1981-84) on ISU’s career steals list with 169.
Shannon paced Illinois with 29 points, while Coleman Hawkins added 12 points.
