AMES, Iowa – Iowa State (10-13, 3-7 Big 12) raced out to an early lead and held on to defeat Kansas State (9-14, 2-8 Big 12), 73-63 Saturday night in Hilton Coliseum. The win ended the Cyclones four-game losing streak.
The Cyclones led by as many as 21 points in the first half before Kansas State stormed back to cut the deficit to four points with 10 minutes remaining in the game.
With the game up for grabs and ISUs star player Tyrese Haliburton out of the game after re-injuring his wrist, the Cyclones needed help from their bench.
They got it from Prentiss Nixon and Terrence Lewis.
Nixon scored all of his nine points in the final 10 minutes and Lewis tallied eight of his 12 points in the latter portion of the second half to hold off a Wildcat comeback.
Solomon Young led all Cyclones with his second 20-point outing of the season, tallying 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and a 6-of-7 effort at the charity stripe.
George Conditt IV had eight points and led the Cyclones on the boards with nine.
How It Happened
The Cyclone defense held Kansas State without a field goal for the first eight minutes of the game, as ISU cruised to a 21-2 lead. Young had 11 of ISUs first 21 points, going 3-of-3 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.
The Wildcats missed their first 11 shots and turned it over five times in the early going.
Haliburton drained a trio of 3-pointers to help the Cyclones maintain their large cushion in the middle part of the first half.
Iowa State led 37-16 with 5:57 remaining, but the Wildcats made a huge cut in the Cyclone lead by scoring the last 12 points of the half to make it a 37-28 Cyclone lead at the break. ISU missed its last 10 shots of the first half.
Haliburton fell awkwardly on his wrist late in the first half. He returned briefly at the start of the second period before exiting for the remainder of the contest.
With Haliburton out, the Cyclones went into an offensive lull. ISU led by 14 points 49-35 with 14:28 remaining, but the Wildcats responded with 10-straight points to cut the deficit to 49-45.
Nixon came to the rescue by recording all seven points in a 7-3 Cyclone run which was a capped off by a steal and dunk to give the Cyclones a 56-48 lead at the 7:20 mark of the second half.
A couple minutes later, two big 3-pointers by Lewis helped the Cyclones go up by 10 points (67-57) with less than two minutes remaining.
Players of Note
Solomon Young scored 11 of Iowa States first 14 points to help the Cyclones jump on the Wildcats out of the gate. Young finished the game with 20 points, his second 20-point effort of the season. Young has been in double-figure scoring in four out of the last six games. He also tied a career best with four steals.
Prentiss Nixon filled in for the injured Tyrese Haliburton and gave the Cyclones some juice. After Kansas State trimmed the Cyclone lead to just four points midway through the second half, Nixon scored seven-straight points to steady the ship. He scored all nine of his points in the final 10 minutes and also had five rebounds and two steals.
Up Next
Iowa State travels to Oklahoma on Wednesday (Feb. 12). Tipoff is at 8 p.m.
