No. 3 Iowa State pulls away late vs. Arizona State

Field Level Media|published: Sat 25th January, 16:47 2025

Jan 25, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Curtis Jones (5) shoots against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the second half at Desert Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Senior guard Curtis Jones scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed seven rebounds as No. 3 Iowa State finished strong for a 76-61 win over Arizona State on Saturday afternoon in Tempe, Ariz.

Joshua Jefferson paired 13 points with 10 rebounds for Iowa State, while Keshon Gilbert finished with 12 points as the Cyclones (17-2, 7-1 Big 12) won their second straight game.

Adam Miller scored 13 points on 4-for-11 shooting to lead Arizona State (11-8, 2-6), which has lost five of its last six games. Basheer Jihad, B.J. Freeman and Jayden Quaintance scored nine points apiece and Jihad added seven rebounds.

Iowa State finished the game on a 19-3 run to seize the victory.

Arizona State grabbed a 58-57 lead when Freeman made a pair of free throws with 5:38 remaining. Freeman earned a trip to the free-throw line after he made a steal on the defensive end and drew a foul against Iowa State's Dishon Jackson.

The Cyclones scored the next 11 points to take a 68-58 lead with 3:23 to play. Demarion Watson started the run with a go-ahead dunk and Gilbert poured in the next seven points with a 3-pointer, two free throws and a jump shot.

Miller made a 3-pointer to pull Arizona State within 68-61 with 3:07 remaining before Iowa State finished the game with eight unanswered points. Jones tallied the final five points on two free throws and a 3-pointer.

Arizona State led 40-33 at the half, keyed by a 10-3 edge in points off turnovers.

The Cyclones used a strong start to pull ahead 20-15 in the first 12-plus minutes. Jones made a jump shot and drained a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to put Iowa State ahead by five with 7:48 left in the first half.

The Sun Devils finished the half on a 25-13 run to flip the five-point deficit into a seven-point advantage. Jihad started the strong finish with a layup off a feed from Alston Mason and Miller followed with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 20.

Mason scored the final four points of the first half for Arizona State. He made one of two free-throw attempts with 52 seconds left before hitting a 3-pointer with nine seconds to go.

--Field Level Media