Ninth-Ranked Cyclones Upended in Stillwater

STILLWATER, Okla. – No. 9 Iowa State (21-7, 11-6 Big 12) dropped its second straight road contest Tuesday evening, falling to Oklahoma State (14-14, 6-11 Big 12) in Gallagher-Iba Arena by a score of 74-68..

The Cyclones constantly found their offense disrupted by the Oklahoma State defense, as ISU never quite found an offensive rhythm. The Cowboys led wire-to-wire and by as much as 16 points as they went on to spring the upset.

ISU, who was still down its second leading scorer and team-leader in assists, Keshon Gilbert, stalled at times and seemingly was kept out of the flow of its offense. The Cyclones did get sixth-man Curtis Jones back from illness in this game.

Joshua Jefferson led the Cyclones with 17 points and eight rebounds, while both Nate Heise (13) and Milan Momcilovic (10) also finished in double figures. The Cyclones shot a touch over 41 percent from the field and 30 percent from deep, but 18 turnovers did them in as the Cowboys converted those into points, totaling 24 points off of ISU turnovers.

For OSU, four players finished with double figures as Abou Ousmane led all scorers with 25 points, as the big man went 3-5 from deep and 8-8 from the charity stripe. Arturo Dean (14), Bryce Thompson (11) and Marchelus Avery (10) all finished in double figures.

How it Happened
Iowa State couldn't have gotten off to much worse of a start, as the early going was ugly for the Cyclones. After forcing a turnover on OSU's first possession, the Cyclones would go on to turn the ball over seven times in the first five minutes, scoring just four points and finding themselves down 12-4 early.

The early hole set the tone for the rest of the half, as ISU trailed for the remainder of the stanza, never getting close than four points. ISU trimmed the lead to four points with just under four minutes left, but just as soon as they saw the OSU lead shrink, it grew right back as the Cowboys ended the first half on a 12-2 run to lead 40-26.

At the break, ISU found itself shooting 36 percent from the floor and 31 percent from 3-point land. The Cyclones had held OSU to just 25 percent shooting, but 11 first half turnovers for the Cyclones and a 14-0 fast break point advantage for OSU were the storylines of a lopsided first period.

Oklahoma State used a pair of free throws to open the second half, pushing its led to a game-high 16 points. The Cyclones rallied though, ripping off a 9-0 run that eventually helped them trim the OSU lead to five within the first five minutes of the half.

Oklahoma State had another answer, as it pushed its lead back up to double digits and as large as 15 points.

The Cyclones were eventually able to whittle the Cowboy advantage down to four with two minutes remaining, but OSU was able to hold on for the six-point upset win.

Key Performers
Nate Heise had another solid game for the Cyclones, as the UNI transfer scored in double figures for the third-straight game, scoring 13 points – his most points as a Cyclone. Nate also chipped in six boards, the third most on the team, and tallied a steal.

Notes

Curtis Jones buried one triple on the night, pushing him into the top 20 list of most 3-pointers made in a single season in school history (68, tied with Korie Lucious).
Tamin Lipsey started his 97^th game at Iowa State, moving into a tie for 16^th in school history with Jared Homan (2002-05).
- His four assists made him the eleventh player in program history with 400 career assists.
- Tamin knocked down his 350^th career field goal this evening.
Joshua Jefferson made his 250^th career field goal tonight.

Up Next
Iowa State will be back in action this weekend, when it returns to Hilton Coliseum for its penultimate home contest of the season, hosting Arizona on Saturday. Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN and is set to tip off at 8 p.m. CT.

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Team Stats

Joshua Jefferson

Nate Heise

Curtis Jones

Milan Momcilovic

Players Mentioned

Keshon Gilbert

Nate Heise

Joshua Jefferson

Curtis Jones

Tamin Lipsey

Milan Momcilovic

Players Mentioned

Keshon Gilbert

Nate Heise

Joshua Jefferson

Curtis Jones

Tamin Lipsey

Milan Momcilovic

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Iowa State University Athletics