Courtesy: cyclones.com
AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State men’s basketball team (16-7 overall, 6-4 Big 12) fell to Kansas State (19-4 overall, 8-2 Big 12) by a score of 79-70 on Saturday despite 16 points from Korie Lucious, who was 4 of 8 from behind the three-point arc.
Senior guard Tyrus McGee also had 15 points for Iowa State, all of which came after the intermission. McGee was 3 of 4 from behind the three-point arc in his second half explosion. Melvin Ejim was the third Cyclone to score in double figures with 13 points. Ejim also recorded his ninth double-double of the season, as he corralled 11 rebounds in the game.
Iowa State fell behind early, trailing 11-2 just over five minutes into the game. The Cyclones fought back with a 24-8 run over the next seven minutes that included three treys from senior Chris Babb. The Cyclones would lead 26-19 following back-to-back three balls by Babb and Lucious.
A Kansas State response would leave the teams heading into the halftime with the Wildcats leading 33-32.
In a game of runs, the Wildcats used a crucial 8-0 run midway through the second half to pull away on Saturday. With Kansas State leading 53-53 with 11:37 left in the game, the Wildcats started their run with a Rodney McGruder jumpshot. McGruder later hit a three-pointer to book-end the run and put the Wildcats up 61-52, a deficit the Cyclones would not recover from
Despite Lucious’ long range shooting and McGee’s second-half explosion, the Wildcats had the game’s two leading scorers in McGruder (22) and Angel Rodriguez (20).
The loss dropped Iowa State to 6-4 in Big 12 play, putting them in a tie for third place in the conference.
The Cyclones will be back in action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to take on Texas in Austin, Texas.