KANSAS CITY — Iowa State’s defense made Kansas State miserable all night forcing 20 turnovers, including a Cyclone conference tournament record 14 steals, on its way to a dominant 76-57 win in the quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Thursday night at T-Mobile Center.
Keshon Gilbert led the Cyclone takeaway party with a career-high and ISU conference tournament record six steals. Robert Jones and Tre King also had three steals each in the win.
The Cyclones held the Wildcats to just 38.3 percent shooting from the field.
Robert Jones matched his season-high with 18 points, his most in seven career meetings against the Wildcats.
How It Happened
Iowa State owned a 34-27 lead at the half behind 12 points from Robert Jones, who made 4-of-5 first-half field goals and free throws. The Cyclones took the lead with an 8-2 run highlighted by a three-point play from Robert Jones and a trifecta from Tamin Lipsey.
ISU extended the opening half lead to as many as nine points, but KSU was able to cut it down to just four points with 2:30 left in the half, thanks largely to a significant advantage at the charity stripe. The Wildcats were 11-for-16 at the line, while ISU made 7-of-10 free throws. The Cyclones outscored KSU 11-3 on second-chance points in the first half, limiting the Wildcats to just 31.8 percent shooting from the field.
After K-State trimmed the Cyclones’ halftime lead to just one point (40-39) with just under 16 minutes remaining, ISU blitzed the Wildcats with a 14-2 run. The run was fueled by a Lipsey alley-oop to Hason Ward as ISU went from up one to leading 53-41 with 11 minutes left.
K-State never got much closer and ISU improved to 4-0 against the Wildcats at T-Mobile Center.
Top Performers
Robert Jones finished the game 6-for-8 from the field and 6-for-7 from the free-throw line to lead the Cyclones in scoring.
Tre King (14), Gilbert (12) and Lipsey (11) also reached double figures for the Cyclones, who improved to 28-1 under T.J. Otzelberger when four players score in double figures.
