Next stop: Tucson.
The first leg of Iowa State basketball’s two-game road trip to Arizona went well for the Cyclones.
Iowa State played Arizona State in Tempe on Saturday afternoon, using a late-game surge to pull away for a 76-61 win.
After a back-and-forth second half, the Cyclones closed the game on a 19-3 run to improve to 17-2 overall and 7-1 in Big 12 Conference play.
Curtis Jones had 33 points, seven rebounds and three steals to lead the Cyclones. Joshua Jefferson chipped in a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double with four steals. Keshon Gilbert had 12 points in the winning effort.
Before the Cyclones take on the Arizona Wildcats on Monday night to end their road trip, here are three takeaways from Saturday’s win:
Curtis Jones delivers once again for Iowa State basketball, sets new career-high
Jones played for all but 12 seconds of Saturday’s 40-minute contest.
He barely rested outside of timeouts and halftime. He was so good Saturday afternoon that the Cyclones needed everything they could get out of the senior guard.
More: Hines: Iowa State basketball shows its stuff late again against Arizona State
He finished with a new career-high 33 points on 10-of-22 shooting, with a 5-of-10 clip from beyond the arc. He also had seven boards and three steals.
Jones’ previous career-high came during his days at SUNY Buffalo. He scored 32 points and led the Bulls in a Dec. 3, 2022 win over St. Bonaventure.
His previous season-high was 26 points in a quality road win over Texas Tech.
Jones had 18 of his 33 points in the first half and was crucial in carrying the Cyclones offensively for a large portion of the game. Iowa State had a difficult time getting into a groove in the first half and Jones helped keep the Cyclones within reach while Arizona State was shooting the ball well.
He put the exclamation point on the game-sealing 19-3 run by scoring the last five points of the contest.
Jones scored in a variety of ways. Whether it was from beyond the arc, contested shots, off the dribble or getting to the free-throw line, he was a major catalyst in the winning effort.
“I feel like I’m always looking to be that aggressive at all times, whether we’re struggling or not,” Jones said. “We needed those buckets some more today, and I was just happy to come through, especially in that first half.”
Cyclones step up big in crunch time with 19-3 run to finish Arizona State
The Sun Devils had Iowa State on upset alert at halftime.
The Cyclones played better in the second half, but it was a closely contested game where the teams traded baskets and leads until Iowa State took control over the last 5:38 of action.
More: Iowa State basketball: Cyclones, Curtis Jones surge past Arizona State late in road win
Arizona State’s B.J. Freeman had two lead-taking free throws. The Sun Devils brought the pressure and the Cyclones were forced to call time out to bail out of a dangerous situation.
Jefferson drew the attention of multiple defenders in the high post and he zipped a nice pass to a cutting Demarion Watson, who finished with a dunk to give the Cyclones a 59-58 lead, with 5:14 left.
It was the start of the 19-3 run to close the game.
The Cyclones’ defensive effort set the tone during this run. They forced several turnovers, got the necessary stops they needed and held the Sun Devils to just one basket for the remainder of the game.
“Specifically the last five (minutes), defensively, we were able to get stops,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “We felt like we were better defensively with Joshua at the ‘5’ and playing smaller and switching. Our guys had great intent to guard the basketball late, which led to us getting stops and ended the game on a good run.”
Although offense didn’t come easy for the Cyclones, outside of Jones, Iowa State had contributions from all over throughout this run.
Arizona State’s Jayden Quaintance, the Big 12’s leading shot-blocker, fouled out with 4:21 left and that helped Iowa State pour it on.
Gilbert had just five points and dealt with four fouls up until that point, but he scored seven consecutive points after Watson’s dunk sparked the run.
Jefferson was crucial defensively down the stretch and his playmaking was a factor.
Jones provided a few more points to finish the win.
“We got stops that led to runouts,” Jones said. “(Watson) started it with that with that dunk. That got us some energy, got the fans into it, and I feel like they got kind of rattled after that. … Especially on the road, we just stayed poised.”
TEMPE, ARIZONA – JANUARY 25: Joshua Jefferson #2 of the Iowa State Cyclones posts up on Basheer Jihad #8 of the Arizona State Sun Devils during the second half at Desert Financial Arena on January 25, 2025 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
Iowa State Cyclones’ second-half defense
The Cyclones played with more urgency on the defensive end of the court in the final 20 minutes of action.
Arizona State was hot in the first half and had plenty of momentum heading into halftime with a 40-33 lead. The Sun Devils shot 14-of-25 (56.0%) overall and 6-of-12 (50.0%) from deep in the first half.
In the second half, the Cyclones limited the Sun Devils to just 7-of-22 (31.8%) shooting and a 2-for-12 (16.7%) mark from beyond the arc.
Iowa State forced seven Sun Devil turnovers in the first half, but it wasn’t able to run out in transition and turn them into scoring opportunities.
In the second half, the Cyclones wore the Sun Devils down. Arizona State, a turnover-prone team, buckled and coughed the ball up 11 more times, which turned into 14 Cyclone points off turnovers.
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State basketball vs Arizona State: 3 takeaways from Cyclones’ win
