Courtesy: cyclones.com –
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Anthony Bennett tallied 22 points to help No. 18 UNLV defeat Iowa State (4-2, 0-0 Big 12), 82-70 Saturday night in the consolation game of the Global Sports Classic in Las Vegas, Nev.
Iowa State had a strong performance from Will Clyburn, who tallied 21 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in the loss. It was his 10th career double-double. Melvin Ejim added 10 points and 11 boards en route to his ninth career double-double.
“We were out there diving on the floor all the way to the buzzer and I am proud of how our guys fought all the way through.” Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg said. “We have to start executing for 40 minutes. We can’t have five minutes of great execution and then five minutes where we don’t. These next 48 hours will be huge for all of us.”
UNLV held a 36-34 lead at the break. The Rebels were up 30-23 with 4:19 left before intermission, but the Cyclones finished the half on an 11-6 run.
Clyburn, who had 10 points and eight rebounds in the first half, scored six points in the final four minutes to help ISU close the gap.
ISU briefly took a lead in the early part of the second half after a Chris Babb 3-pointer, as the Cyclones were up 39-38 with 17:45 left in the game.
UNLV played with the lead throughout the rest of the second half. The closest the Cyclones got was 51-50 when Tyrus McGee buried a trey with 11:40 left in the game.
The Rebels scored the next four points and were never without a five-point advantage the rest of the way, as the Cyclones were plagued with foul trouble. Georges Niang and Ejim both fouled out of the contest and Anthony Booker played with four fouls for much of the second half.
UNLV shot 35 free-throws. ISU attempted just nine.
McGee added 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from 3-point range for the Cyclones. McGee has made four or more treys in four of six games this year.
The Cyclones shot a season-low 33.3 percent from the field, but managed to stay in the game by grabbing 24 offensive rebounds. Clyburn had eight offensive caroms, as the Cyclones outrebounded their sixth-straight opponent, 46-45.
Iowa State is back in action on Dec. 1., playing host to BYU.
