Iowa State remains perfect in Hilton Coliseum (17-0) this season with one home game remaining.
It was a night where both teams struggled to score – ISU shot only 33.3 percent – and the Cyclones needed an unlikely hero to push them over the top. They found it in Demarion Watson, who scored all his career-high 15 points in the second half on 7-of-7 shooting. He also grabbed a team-high nine boards, including four on the offensive glass.
Curtis Jones added 11 points, his 10th-straight double-figure game off the bench. Jones and Tyrus McGee are the only two Cyclones since 2012 to score 10+ points as a reserve in 10 consecutive games.
Despite its cold shooting night, ISU took care of the ball, committing just eight turnovers to OU’s 14.
The first half will go down as one of the strangest in recent memory. Despite a 1-of-18 shooting stretch, the Cyclones somehow managed to hold a 25-20 lead at the break.
Iowa State was down 20-16 with six minutes remaining hitting just 14 percent of its shots (4-of-28). Curtis Jones finally took the lid off the basket with a runner in the lane, followed by hoops from Tamin Lipsey and Hason Ward, as the Cyclones rattled off nine-straight points while holding the Sooners scoreless the final six minutes of the half.
ISU made just 20 percent of its shots in the opening period, but OU wasn’t much better with a 28.0 percent clip. Much of the credit goes to both defenses, however. Shots were contested and out of rhythm.
Watson had six points and Curtis Jones buried a long trey from the corner to help the Cyclones take a 40-28 lead with 13 minutes remaining.
The Cyclones maintained their double-digit lead for the next eight minutes, as Watson kept scoring. Curtis Jones gave ISU its largest lead at 16 points (49-33) on a drive with 6:20 left in the contest.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by the Sooners cut the lead to 10 points, but Watson stopped the mini-run with a corner triple to push ISU back up 52-39 with 4:18 remaining.
Top Performers
Demarion Watson was amazing. He provided the spark from off the bench, scoring all his career-high 15 points in the second half and grabbing a team-high nine boards. Watson had six points in the first six minutes of the second period to help ISU extend its lead and was all over the glass. Watson corralled four offensive boards. He’s the first Cyclone to be perfect from the field in a Big 12 game with seven or more field goal attempts since Jameel McKay did it (7-of-7) in 2015.
Notes
Jackson Paveletzke played in his 60th career game on the night.
Tamin Lipsey moved into the eleventh all-time mark on the career steals list at ISU and now has the third most steals in a single season in school history.
Demarion Watson crossed the 100-pooint threshold this evening on a career night.
Hason Ward scored his 600th point on the evening.
Up Next
Iowa State heads to Orlando on Saturday to face UCF. Tipoff is at 3 p.m. CT on Big 12 Network/ESPN+.
