Courtesy: cyclones.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa State (6-3 overall, 0-0 Big 12 Conference) led 36-35 at halftime, but Iowa (8-2 overall, 0-0 Big Ten Conference) started the second half with an 8-0 run and never looked back. The Hawkeyes went on to win the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series contest 80-71 Friday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Cyclones had a balanced scoring attack, with five players (Chris Babb, Korie Lucious, Percy Gibson, Tyrus McGee and Georges Niang) scoring in double figures. Lucious and Gibson both had a team-high 14 points. Iowa’s Aaron White carried the scoring load for the Hawkeyes with a game-high 18 points.
Niang and Gibson grabbed a team-high five boards for the Cyclones and Lucious dished out seven assists. White registered a game-high seven boards for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa jumped out to an early 8-0 lead before Niang scored a put back to put Iowa State on the scoreboard with 16:31 left in the opening half. Niang would go on to score 13 points on 6-8 shooting in the opening half. Despite his strong start, Niang was held scoreless in the second half.
Iowa held a comfortable lead throughout most of the first half and the Hawkeyes saw their lead swell to as much as 10 (31-21) with 3:25 remaining in the opening stanza. However, the Cyclones responded with an 11-0 run to take its first lead (32-31) of the game when Percy Gibson connected on a free throw with 1:02 left in the first half. The Cyclones would lead by as much as three in the opening period and they took a 36-35 lead at the intermission.
After Iowa’s 8-0 run to start the second half, the closest the Cyclones could cut the Hawkeye lead was four points.
The Cyclones struggled from long distance in the game, shooting only 32.1 percent (9-28). Iowa State’s leading scorer this season, Will Clyburn, was held scoreless in the game. Clyburn was averaging 16.1 points per game entering tonight’s contest.
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Iowa game notes:
*Anthony Clemmons made eight assists for the second straight game. He has 16 assists and one turnover in the past two games. Clemmons also scored a season-high 14 points.
*Aaron White scored a game-high 18 points. He has scored at least 18 points in three of the past four games.
*Mike Gesell scored in double figures for the fourth time of his career with 11 points.
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Video highlights:
