Grambling State held a brief lead at the midway point of the first stanza until the Cyclones responded by making 11-of-14 shots to end the half to take over the game. It was the 36th consecutive Cyclone win over a non-conference team in Hilton Coliseum.
The Cyclones had a balanced scoring effort led by Joshua Jefferson, who aided ISU’s high efficiency by making 8-of-10 shots en route to his game-high 20 points.
Eleven different Cyclones were in the scoring column in the win. Tamin Lipsey was one of them, tallying double figures for the second game in a row (10). He also dished out six assists and had five of ISU’s 14 steals. It was his second consecutive game with 5+ steals and seventh in his career, ranking second in school history.
Rookies Killyan Toure and Jamarion Batemon each scored 11 points, and Blake Buchanan grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the victory.
How it Happened
It was a close game throughout the first 10 minutes of the contest. The Cyclones led 16-8 after a Lipsey lay-in, but the Tigers answered with nine straight points to silence the Hilton crowd. Antonio Munoz scored four points in the run to give the Tigers their first lead at 17-16 with 9:44 left in the half.
The Cyclones got a boost from Batemon, who promptly hit back-to-back 3-pointers followed by a Milan Momcilovic trey, and the Cyclones went back up 25-17.
Batemon’s outburst was just what the Cyclones needed, dominating the rest of the half, capped off by a 3-pointer from Lipsey with under 10 seconds left to give the Cyclones a 44-30 lead at the break.
Jefferson led the Cyclones with nine first-half points.
Iowa State quickly jumped out to a 22-point lead (56-34) to open the second half. Jefferson scored two buckets and made a nifty assist to a wide-open Toure to help provide the cushion.
At the second media timeout, the lead ballooned to 30 points (71-41) after Lipsey picked up his fifth steal and threw a behind-the-back pass to Toure for the lay-in.
Key Performer
Joshua Jefferson has had a fantastic start to his senior season. He opened the season with a double-double Monday night vs. FDU and made his presence everywhere tonight vs. Grambling, recording his second career 20-point game as a Cyclone with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. He also grabbed eight boards and handed out three assists.
Notes
T.J. Otzelberger tied Steve Prohm for sixth in school history with his 97th victory as a Cyclone.
Otzelberger earned his 50th non-conference win at Iowa State, tied for the eighth-most in the country in the last five years.
Iowa State has won 36-straight non-conference games at Hilton Coliseum, the sixth-longest streak in the country.
Iowa State has hit a 3-pointer in 600 straight games.
Cyclones have won 17-straight games when scoring 100 points or more, including a 5-0 record under Otzelberger.
Iowa State is 52-6 under Otzelberger when four or more players score in double figures.
Tamin Lipsey has a steal in 100 of the 105 games he has played in his career.
Lipsey passed Rashon Clark on the ISU all-time scoring list this evening and now ranks 31st in school history.
Lipsey now sits one steal shy of seventh in Big 12 history.
Eric Mulder eclipsed 500 career rebounds on the night.
Joshua Jefferson scored his 300th field goal on the night.
He also sits five boards shy of 500 in his career.
Dominick Nelson went over 500 career points as he had 11 on the night.
Blake Buchanan hit the 300-point threshold.
Up Next
Iowa State heads to the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls to face Mississippi State on Monday (Nov. 10). Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
