×

No. 10 Iowa State's defense smothers Cincinnati in 68-59 win

Iowa State forward Milan Momcilovic (22) controls the ball against Cincinnati's John Newman III during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

CINCINNATI (AP) — No. 10 Iowa State forced 25 turnovers and had 12 steals in a smothering 68-59 win over Cincinnati on Tuesday night.

Curtis Jones and Tamin Lipsey each had 15 points to lead the Cyclones (19-5, 8-3 Big 12), who turned the Bearcats’ turnovers into 26 points.

Jizzle James had 16 points and Simas Lukosius scored 15 for Cincinnati (15-9, 4-7). Dan Skillings Jr. had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bearcats have lost five of their past seven games.

Iowa State forced eight turnovers and had three steals in the first six minutes of the game. That helped the Cyclones overcome a scoring drought of nearly four minutes.

Jones, who averaged 14.2 points off the bench in his previous six games, hit a 3-pointer during an 11-2 run to close the first half. Iowa State led 34-26 at halftime.

As the turnovers continued to mount for the Bearcats early in the second half, the Cyclones extended their run to 18-2 on Keshon Gilbert’s 3-pointer to make the score 41-26. Gilbert finished with 12 points.

Cincinnati rallied from a 13-point deficit before losing to No. 5 Houston 67-62 on Saturday. The Cyclones’ defense prevented a similar scare.

Cincinnati leads the all-time series 4-3. It was the schools’ first meeting since 2016.

BIG PICTURE

Iowa State: The Cyclones average nearly 11 steals per game, nearly twice their opponents’ average. They average more than 22 points off turnovers.

Cincinnati: The Bearcats need Viktor Lakhin to get back on track. Lakhin, the team’s second-leading scorer, went scoreless on Tuesday. He has gone scoreless three times in the last four games and only scored four points at Texas Tech.

UP NEXT

Iowa State: Hosts Texas Tech on Saturday.

Cincinnati: Visits UCF on Saturday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here.

___

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball