(St. Louis, MO) — Number two seed Iowa St. cruised past #15 seed Tennessee St. 108-74 to advance to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament men’s basketball tournament on Friday afternoon. However, star player Joshua Jefferson went down with an ankle injury early and did not return to the game.
ISU went on a 23-0 run in the first half to establish control of the game — a 9-7 lead went to a 32-7 blowout in about five minutes of game action. The Cyclones led 55-29 at the half. Iowa St. did it without their star Jefferson who came down from a lay-up in an awkward manner just 2 and a half minutes into the game. The Senior needed help to get to the locker room — he returned later but was on crutches and he was wearing a boot. Head Coach TJ Otzelberger says that he has a severely sprained left ankle but x-rays were negative and he will be re-evaluated on Saturday.
Freshman Killyan Toure led Iowa St. (28-7) with a career high 25 points and 11 rebounds. Nate Heise had a season high 22 points including 4 of 5 on his threes. Milan Momcilovic finished with 17 points and Blake Buchanan added 11 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. ISU shot 53 percent from the field including 11-24 from three point land. The Cyclones outrebounded the Tigers 43-29 and had 18 offensive rebounds.
Momcilovic says the team stepped up their play when Jefferson went down especially scoring from Toure and Heise
Buchanan had a big game especially in the passing game and he says the team has confidence even with or without Jefferson
Otzelberger was happy with how guys responded when Jefferson went down
Tennessee St. was led by Aaron Nkrumah had 21 points and Antoine Lorick III had 20. Tennessee State was just 5 of 21 from three point land.
Next up for Iowa St. is #7 seed Kentucky on Sunday, game time TBA, coverage on KSOM.
