AMES – No. 9 Iowa State (17-2, 4-2 Big 12) got back to its old defensive ways and Joshua Jefferson posted his second triple-double of the year in an 87-57 victory over UCF (14-4, 3-3 Big 12) Tuesday night in Hilton Coliseum.
ISU made it tough to score, forcing 19 turnovers, tallying 13 steals, and holding the Knights to 37.0 percent shooting, including a 32.3 percent clip in the second half, to remain undefeated at home (11-0).
Its defensive effort was on display in the final 5:45 minutes of the first half when it held UCF scoreless and forced four turnovers to break open a close game behind a 13-0 run.
Jefferson was phenomenal with his Cyclone-best second triple-double of the season, recording 17 points, 12 assists and 10 boards. His 12 assists were a career high and he joined B.J. Edwards of SMU as the only two players with two or more triple-doubles this season.
Milan Momcilovic led all players with 20 points, draining 4-of-8 shots from downtown to give him 75 on the season. Blake Buchanan added 11 points and six boards, and Tamin Lipsey had five points, but tallied five thefts, his ninth 5+-steal game as a Cyclone. He also had five boards and six dimes.
ISU is now 44-2 at Hilton Coliseum in the last three seasons.
Iowa State jumped out to an early 23-9 lead. Jefferson had six points and four assists in the first eight minutes of the contest.
UCF mounted a 10-2 run to cut the Cyclone lead to 31-26 with 5:45 remaining in the first half. Themus Fulks and Riley Kugel each scored five points in the run to close the gap on a once 13-point Cyclone lead.
However, the Knights didn’t score the rest of the half as the Cyclones closed the opening stanza with a 13-0 run to take a 44-26 lead at the break. Jamarion Batemon had eight points and Tamin Lipsey hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to push the Cyclone lead to 18 points.
A Momcilovic 3-pointer gave the Cyclones a 55-35 lead with 14:04 left in the game.
Twice the Knights closed the gap to 15 points, but the second time the Cyclones answered with an 8-0 flurry thanks to another Momcilovic 3-pointer to give the Cyclones a comfortable 66-43 lead with 7:58 left in the game.
Key Performer
Jamarion Batemon’s eight points in the final 5:45 minutes of the first were the bulk of ISU’s 13-0 run to close the half to give the Cyclones a 44-26 lead at the break. He scored on a conventional 3-point play and hit a deep second-chance trey during the run. Batemon finished the game with 12 points, his fourth double-digit scoring game of the season, in just 16 minutes of action.
Notes
T.J. Otzelberger earned his 71st win at Hilton Coliseum, tied with Larry Eustachy for third in school history.
ISU’s 90th win in the last four years is tied for the fifth-best four-year stretch in program history.
Joshua Jefferson started his 80th career game.
He eclipsed 275 career assists.
He is now over 200 assists as a Cyclone.
Milan Momcilovic now owns the 16th-most single season triples in ISU history (75).
He has made the fourth-most 3-pointers in school history (199), as he passed Scott Christopherson on the evening.
Tamin Lipsey is now 22nd in ISU scoring annals (1,260).
He surpassed 275 career steals.
Up Next
Iowa State travels to Oklahoma State on Saturday (Jan. 24). Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. on Peacock.
