Men's Hoops Cruises Past the Wildcats, 62-51

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) - Iowa State's 10th straight victory didn't come in the usual high-scoring fashion.

The No. 6 Cyclones scored 20 fewer points than their season average, but used tough defense to sweep Kansas State for the second straight season with a 62-51 win Wednesday night.

"They played like they we're trying to win a championship," Kansas State coach Jim Wooldridge said of Iowa State. "They're playing better than everybody in every phase of the game."

The Big 12 Conference leaders held the Wildcats to a season-low 5-of-26 from the floor in the first half and forced 14 turnovers. Iowa State held the Wildcats to one field goal in the final 11 minutes of the first half.

Kansas State shot just 32 percent from the field for the game, while the Cyclones shot 51.7 percent in the first half.

"Parts of that game were the best defensive performances that I've seen all year from us," Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy said. "It's a great win for us. We really thought we had a difficult task ahead of us tonight."

Jamaal Tinsley scored 16 points and Tyray Pearson had 12 as Iowa State added to a 14-point halftime lead with a 7-0 run to start the second half.

Pearson made a layup and a free throw with 14:52 left to give the Cyclones (23-3, 11-2 Big 12) their biggest lead of the game, 20 points. Kansas State used a 5-0 run to cut the deficit, but Kantrail Horton scored to halt the Wildcats' spurt.

"We were stopping everybody," Tinsley said. "We weren't letting them do what they wanted to do. We knew how to guard them better. Also, we beat them to their spots."

The Wildcats (9-15, 3-10 Big 12) came on again when Phineas Atchison hit two 3s in the last two minutes to cut the Cyclones' lead to 10.

The Cyclones shot 17-of-22 from the line, including 6-for-8 in the final five minutes to secure the win.

Eustachy wasn't happy when Kansas State cut the 20-point lead in half.

"Our team can't get over the hump of getting leads and then increasing them," he said. "When we're up, we get careless and turn the ball over. Fifteen turnovers is too many. That's going to hurt us down the stretch."

The Wildcats got within one in the first half before the Cyclones pulled away when Paul Shirley scored with 9:18 left to ignite a 17-4 run.

Kansas State has lost seven of its last eight games. The Wildcats held the Cyclones to their second lowest point total of the season.

Tinsley, Iowa State's leading scorer at 14.1 points per game, also had six rebounds and five assists. He was 4-of-6 from the floor.

Martin Rancik had nine points and six rebounds before fouling out.

Atchison led the Wildcats with 13 points and Matt Siebrandt added 11.

"We were not supposed to have any business being on the court with them," Siebrandt said. "I think we played all right. We hung with them and got it down to 10. We were going to fight no matter what."

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Players Mentioned

Kantrail Horton

Kantrail Horton

Tyray Pearson

Tyray Pearson

Martin Rancik

Martin Rancik

Paul Shirley

Paul Shirley

Jamaal Tinsley

Jamaal Tinsley

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