No. 16 Cyclones dominate in Sioux Falls

By TOM SAVAGE

The Associated Press

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Tamin Lipsey scored 14 of his 25 points in the second half to lead No. 16 Iowa State to a 96-80 win over Mississippi State on Monday night in a neutral-site game that was the 100th Division I basketball contest played at the Sanford Pentagon.

Joshua Jefferson scored 18 points and Blake Buchanan had 13 points and six rebounds for the Cyclones (3-0).

The game was a homecoming of sorts for Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger, who led the program at South Dakota State from 2016-19.

Lipsey, a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2024, also helped the Cyclones on the defensive end with a game-leading three steals.

Iowa State forced 26 Mississippi State turnovers that resulted in 29 points. The Bulldogs committed just seven turnovers in their season-opening win over North Alabama on Nov. 5.

Josh Hubbard led the Bulldogs (1-1) with 25 points on 8-for-17 shooting, including 4-for-10 sniping from 3-point distance. Achor Achor finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

The first half featured eight lead changes. MSU’s Dellquan Warren hit a 3-pointer to cut the Iowa State lead to 29-27 with just over five minutes to play before the Cyclones went on a 15-3 run.

A three-point play by Buchanan brought Iowa State crowd to its feet in the final minute of the half when the Cyclones closed out the first 20 minutes on a 22-8 run and led 53-35 at the break.

The lead ballooned to 25 points (85-60) on a jumper by Jefferson with six minutes to play in the second half.

The Cyclones have been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 33 consecutive weeks, the seventh-longest streak in the nation.

Iowa State hosts Stonehill College on Monday.