No. 10 Iowa State uses strong start to second half to top UCF

Keshon Gilbert scored 15 points, Joshua Jefferson added 13 points and eight rebounds and No. 10 Iowa State beat Central Florida 77-65 on Tuesday night in Orlando.

Iowa State (19-5, 9-4 Big 12) outscored the Knights 45-35 after halftime to run away with the contest. The Cyclones opened the second half on an 18-9 run, with Gilbert converting a breakaway layup that gave the visitors a 50-39 lead with 11:55 remaining.

Seven Cyclones scored at least eight points as part of a well-balanced effort.

Tamin Lipsey had 11 points for Iowa State, which held a 41-32 edge on the boards. Reserve Curtis Jones scored all 10 of his points in the first half and collected six rebounds and five assists for the game, while Brandton Chatfield came off the bench to post nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.

The Knights (13-11, 4-9) lost for the seventh time in eight games, a rut that includes a current five-game skid.

Keyshawn Hall paced UCF with a game-high 22 points to go along with eight rebounds. Mikey Williams netted a career-high 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting, a performance that included a 2-for-4 night from beyond the arc, but the Knights made only 6 of 26 attempts from deep as a team (23.1 percent).

Darius Johnson had 11 points and four assists for Central Florida, and Moustapha Thiam grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Cyclones trailed by three with just under five minutes left in the first half, but Gilbert's triple and Lipsey's fastbreak layup off a tip pass from Jones highlighted a 10-2 run that put Iowa State ahead 32-27 with 2:01 to go in the period.

Hall's three-point play with 15 seconds left made it 32-30 Iowa State at the break before the Cyclones took over with their strong start to the second half.

Iowa State led by as many as 15 after intermission.

--Field Level Media