Iowa State guard Curtis Jones (5) dives for a loose ball against Arizona State Alston Mason (1) and Adam Miller (44) during a game at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe on Jan. 25, 2025. © Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
When Arizona State pressed, Iowa State didn’t.
That, in a nutshell, proved to be the difference as the No. 3 Cyclones’ staved off the Sun Devils’ upset bid Saturday in Tempe — finishing with a 19-3 flourish to cement what turned into a convincing 76-61 road win.
“I know they had seven turnovers in the first half,” ISU star guard Curtis Jones said on the Cyclone Radio Network while perusing the box score. “They had 11 in the second half. That definitely played in our favor. We’re a team that likes to get runs off those turnovers.”
Jones led ISU (17-2, 7-1) with a career-high 33 points and helped keep his team afloat offensively in a first half that ended with Arizona State (11-8, 2-6) leading, 40-33. The Cyclones took their first lead of the second half of a pair of Joshua Jefferson free throws that made the score, 57-56, with 5:54 left. The Sun Devils decided to press ISU, which took full advantage by scoring 19 of the game’s final 22 points.
Jefferson notched his eighth double-double of the season (13 points, 10 rebounds) and made several winning plays on both ends of the floor as ISU rallied late. His second assist of the game led to a Demarion Watson dunk with 5:14 remaining. Then, after a stop, Jefferson found Keshon Gilbert for a 3-pointer that gave the Cyclones a 62-58 edge with 4:43 left.
“They call (Jefferson) Mr. Do-It-All and if you can’t see why, I don’t know what you’re watching,” said Jones, who added seven rebounds and hit half of his 3-point attempts (5-for-10). “Ten rebounds, four steals — and he was guarding the point guard a lot of the time late in the second half, which doesn’t show up in the box score. Great defense.”
Arizona State would never get within one possession of the lead after the 3-pointer from Gilbert, who scored seven of his 12 points in rapid succession to seal the triumph.
“Once he kind of got that look in his eye and saw that 3 go through — I just feel like he was operating on all cylinders,” ISU head coach T.J. Otzelberger said of Gilbert. “He loves the big moment. He loves the big game. And, man, he really stepped up for us here today.”
So did the Cyclones’ fans, who turned Desert Financial Arena into a Hilton Southwest of sorts.
“We needed that energy late and our guys talked about it in the locker room, how we could tell that we felt like we had that home court advantage, even on the road,” Otzelberger said. “So, very thankful and grateful to everyone who came out today.”
ISU outscored Arizona State 43-21 in the second half while limiting the Sun Devils to 32 percent shooting after the break.
“It’s a long game,” Jefferson said. “So how you start isn’t how you finish.”
Not always, anyway — and rarely for the Cyclones, who boast four comeback road wins this season and will face surging Arizona (13-6, 7-1) at 9:30 p.m. Monday in Tucson.
“Tough game, tough opponent, a big opportunity awaits,” Otzelberger said.