OMAHA, Neb. — Tammin Lipsey scored 15 points, Iowa State upped the pressure in the second half against Washington State, and the second-seeded Cyclones beat the seventh-seeded Cougars 67-56 for the seventh time. advanced to the Sweet 16. NCAA Tournament Saturday night.
Curtis Jones scored 14 points and Keshon Gilbert and Milan Momcilovic each scored 10 points for the Cyclones (29-7), who advanced to the second weekend of the tournament for the second time in three years.
They will face either No. 3 seed Illinois or No. 11 seed Duquesne in the East semifinals Thursday night at TD Garden in Boston.
Jalen Wells had 20 points and Myles Rice added 13 points for the Cougars (25-10), who were sent back to the Palouse looking for their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2008 when Tony Bennett was on the sideline. .
Iowa State spent much of the first half in turmoil thanks to what current Cougars coach Kyle Smith calls “shobbles.” This is a stifling defensive style named after associated head coach and defensive guru Jim Shaw.
The Cougars aggressively jumped into passing lanes, attacked the Cyclones’ shooters on the perimeter, and crashed into the boards mercilessly.
While Iowa State was busy missing 14 of its first 17 shots, Wells scored 16 points on 7-of-12 in the first half, a year ago at Sonoma State in the Div. March Madness proved to be no big deal for a kid who was playing 2 ball.
The Cyclones finally got going on the downhill stretch.
Lipsey and Gilbert slowly crawled back into the game, attacking the rim, getting layups and drawing fouls.
By the time Hayson Ward scored on an alley-oop lay-in late in the second half, the Big 12 Tournament champions were tied for 27-all with the regular-season Pac-12 runners-up.
Washington State took care of Iowa State’s defense in the first half, turning the ball over just five times.
But as the game progressed and the Cyclones took the lead, the Cougars suddenly started throwing the ball to the front row seats.
Iowa State took a 51-46 lead on Lipsey’s contested 3-pointer with 7 1/2 minutes remaining.
Isaac Jones turned it over at the other end and Tre King added another goal to make it a 10-point lead.
Then, a few minutes later, Rice sent a skip pass into the backcourt and Curtis Jones made a bucket, pushing the Cyclones’ lead to 59-48 with 3 1/2 minutes left.
At that point, there was a sense of desperation for the Cougars, and Iowa State was steamrolling toward the Sweet 16.
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Iowa State hasn’t faced Illinois since the 2018 Maui Invitational, which the Cyclones won in a rout. Iowa State also won the Emerald Coast Classic in Florida in 2015, but before that the Fighting Illini had won 10 straight in the series. Iowa State has never played Duquesne.
