Tamin Lipsey scored a career-high 25 points, Joshua Jefferson added 18 points and No. 16 Iowa State beat Mississippi State 96-80 on Monday night at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Lipsey (9-of-17 shooting) added six assists, three steals and one blocked shot as Iowa State defeated the Bulldogs for the first time in four meetings dating back to the 1978-79 season. Jefferson helped lead the second-half effort, finishing 6 of 7 at the free-throw line and 6 of 8 from the floor.
Virginia transfer Blake Buchanan had a strong all-around game for undefeated Iowa State (3-0) with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Utah Valley transfer Dominick Nelson chipped in 11 points and two steals off the bench for the Cyclones, who scored 29 points off 26 Mississippi State turnovers.
Josh Hubbard paced Mississippi State (1-1) with 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting with four 3-pointers. Shawn Jones Jr. had 11 points and six rebounds, Montana State transfer Brandon Walker scored 10 points and Kansas State transfer Achor Achor added nine points and a game-high eight rebounds.
The nonconference matchup, which marked the 100th Division I basketball game played on the Pentagon’s Heritage Court, began as a defensive-minded battle that featured eight early lead changes. But it quickly turned offensive.
Buchanan’s basket put the Cyclones ahead 17-16 at the 9:40 mark of the first half. That sparked Iowa State’s 38-19 run to close out the opening 20 minutes.
Buchanan completed a three-point play with 33 seconds to go and Jamarion Batemon then grabbed a defensive rebound, following a Buchanan blocked shot, and fed a long outlet pass to Nate Heise. Heise lobbed a pass from the right wing to a hustling Nelson, who converted a layup before time expired for a 53-35 halftime advantage.
Nine different Cyclones scored in the first half as Iowa State shot 52.8% (19 of 36) from the floor, made 11 of 13 free throws and scored 18 points off 15 Bulldog turnovers. Iowa State finished the contest with a 56-30 scoring edge in the paint.
Mississippi State played without senior guard Jayden Epps, a Georgetown transfer who was in the starting lineup for the Bulldogs’ season-opening win over North Alabama.
