(Ames, IA) — February 27, 2023. That’s the last time that Iowa St. men’s basketball lost a game at Hilton Coliseum. Kansas St. seemed an unlikely team to end a 29 game home win streak but the Wildcats ended a 15 game road losing streak, beating #3 ranked Cyclones 80-61 on Saturday.
K-State seemed to hit big shot after big shot. ISU leaped out to a 13-4 lead but Coleman Hawkins made a three to cut the lead to 6. Three minutes later, Max Jones hit another three for the Wildcats to cut the lead to one 16-15. Iowa St. took a timeout but turned it over and Doug McDaniel’s lay-up gave KSU a 17-16 lead. The lead would see saw the rest of the half but Max Jones hit a triple with 36 seconds left in the first half to give K-St a 37-35 lead at the half.
The Wildcats went on a 7-0 run to start the second half and built a 44-35 lead. The teams traded lay-ups and McDaniel hit another three 5 minutes into the half to make it 51-39 Wildcats. ISU lost their cool after a Tamin Lipsey turnover, Nate Heese was called for a foul on a rebound and Head Coach T.J. Otzelberger was called for a technical foul arguing. After two made free throws, K St grabbed a rebound off a missed three and Jones put it back in. After an ISU miss, Brendan Hausen hit a three for a 12-0 run and a 58-39 lead.
Iowa St. answered with a run of their own — a 13-0 spurt with a three from Tamin Lipsey and a three from Joshua Jefferson. In about 1:40 of game time, the Cyclones had cut a 19 point lead to four, 62-58 midway through the second half. The Wildcats responded with another huge three from Hausen to spark an 8-0 run for the Wildcats. That pretty much ended the comeback for Iowa St. Hawkins hit a three with 3:48 to put the icing on the cake.
All five starters were in double figures for Kansas St. (10-11, 4-6) led by McDaniel with 20 points, Hawkins had 17, Hausen 15, Max Jones 12 and David N’Guessan added 10. The Wildcats were 10-20 from three point land and 45 percent shooting overall. Kansas State: The Wildcats took down their first top-five team on the road since 2017 when Kansas State beat then-No. 2 Baylor 56-54 at the Ferrell Center on Feb. 2.
Both teams had 18 turnovers — the second game in a row that Iowa St. (17-4, 7-3) were in double figures in turnovers and both games were losses. Lipsey led ISU with 20, Curtis Jones had 14, and Jefferson added 13. ISU was outrebounded 39-29.
Next up, Iowa St. visits #11 Kansas on Monday night, tip off at 8 pm, Cyclone Pre Game at 7 pm on KSOM.
