KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The opening game in the Big 12 Tournament for No. 12 Iowa State ended with a big 76-56 victory over Cincinnati. The fifth-seeded Cyclones used a monster second half and a dominant presence in the paint to get past the 13th-seeded Bearcats.

Jefferson, Jackson dominate inside

Iowa State’s frontcourt was lights out in the win over Cincinnati. Whether it was scoring, rebounding or forcing turnovers, the Cyclones were there.

The dominance started on defense in the first half and transitioned to offense in the second.

Jefferson led the way in scoring with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting while grabbing eight boards and tallying five assists. A few of his late buckets came off of steals, which he had three of to lead the team.

“[Jefferson] has been our best rebounder all year long,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said.

It’s his ability to do things on all levels and sides of the ball that helped Iowa State grab the lead and run away with it late.

“His passing is one of the best abilities I’ve seen,” Iowa State sophomore forward Milan Momcilovic said. “Me and him work very well together, and I mean, I just love playing with him because he rebounds, passes, scores and he’s a really good defender.”

Jackson ended his opening Big 12 Tournament game with a double-double, his first since the loss at Arizona on Jan. 27. He did it via 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and by grabbing 15 rebounds, 11 of which came on defense.

“[Jackson], I felt like he took over the game in parts of the game,” Otzelberger said. “It was on the glass, it was in the paint. Defensively, he made some really impactful plays.”

When Cincinnati missed a majority of its shots, Iowa State was there to attack the glass. In all, the Cyclones outrebounded the Bearcats 41-23, with 30 coming on the defensive end.

Led by Jefferson and Jackson, the paint presence made it tough for Cincinnati to get second-chance opportunities.

In the first half alone, the duo only had defensive rebounds and combined for 11 of Iowa State’s 21 first-half rebounds.

“They had a toughness and a physicality to them that really led our team [Wednesday],” Otzelberger said.

What happened in the first half carried over into the second, and other players, such as Momcilovic, joined in on the rebounding fun with six of his own.

On the offensive end, Iowa State turned 11 offensive boards into 15 second-chance points.

Momcilovic, Lipsey light it up from deep

Momcilovic was the star of the show in the first half. The Pewaukee, Wisconsin, native lit it up in the first 20 minutes with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting and was 3-for-4 outside.

“Just seeing one or two go down, confidence goes up,” Momcilovic said. “It really expands our whole offense.”

The night for Momcilovic ended with 13 points, the third most on the team.

Though Momcilovic cooled off in the second half, junior guard Tamin Lipsey became the hot hand in the latter 20 minutes.

Lipsey, like Momcilovic, ended 3-for-5 from deep and continued to be a big part of the defensive pressure with two steals.

“He was big-time,” Momcilovic said. “If we didn’t have him, who knows.”

With 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting, Lipsey found something against Cincinnati and ran with it.

“Second half, I felt like my shot was feeling good and I was confident in it,” Lipsey said.

However, late in the game, Lipsey exited with an apparent injury that Otzelberger said was a groin strain. The hope is that Lipsey will be good to go against BYU.

Heise, Kelderman provide minutes

Senior guard Keshon Gilbert was limited against Cincinnati and only played in the first half. He has been dealing with a groin strain and it kept him sidelined the entire second half.

Fellow senior guard Nate Heise got the start over Gilbert and had five points, four rebounds and two assists in his 23 minutes of court time. Though he didn’t shoot a lot, he didn’t miss, as he shot 2-for-2 and made his lone 3-pointer.

Heise continued to provide on offense, and this game marked the seventh one in a row where he scored points.

Sophomore guard Cade Kelderman hasn’t seen a lot of time on the court this season, but he has in recent games with Gilbert dealing with his injury.

Against the Bearcats, Kelderman was only in the game for two minutes and only recorded one foul, but Otzelberger seems to trust Kelderman enough to let him play.

“[Kelderman] is a tremendous worker every day in practice,” Otzelberger said. “He earns that trust through what he does on a day-to-day basis.”

Should Gilbert miss more time against BYU, and if Lipsey is at all limited, Kelderman may be in a position to get some more action.

“As far as [Gilbert] goes, it’ll be evaluated [Wednesday] night and in the morning and see what he’s able to do,” Otzelberger said. “With [Lipsey], sounds like something with his groin, he tweaked it, but I think for sure he’ll be fine and he’ll be good to go.”