MANHATTAN, Kansas — No. 10 Iowa State ended the regular season with a trip to Manhattan, Kansas, for a game against Kansas State.

While the Wildcats got the better of the Cyclones in Ames, Iowa State returned the favor on Kansas State’s senior night, as the Cyclones came out with a 73-57 win Saturday.

“When we played these guys at our place, they were the more physical, aggressive and took it to us,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “We knew coming in that we were gonna have to be the more aggressive team in every aspect of the game and our guys stepped up in a major way.”

This win for Iowa State brings its overall record to 23-8, 13-7 Big 12, and this was the first win in Manhattan since Feb. 26, 2022.

Jones and ‘the Presidents’ lead the way in Gilbert’s absence

Prior to Saturday’s contest, senior guard Keshon Gilbert was ruled out with a muscle strain. This was the same injury Gilbert was out with in the Cyclones’ losses to Houston and Oklahoma State.

While Gilbert came back in Iowa State’s win over Arizona and a double-overtime loss to BYU, it appeared that he might not have been ready to return due to this lingering injury.

But in his absence, the Cyclones found a way to take down a team that had ended their 29-game winning streak in Hilton Coliseum, with senior guard Curtis Jones leading the way.

In his last regular season game with Iowa State, Jones scored 24 points off the bench on 5-of-15 shooting from the field, 3-of-9 from deep.

However, nearly half of Jones’ point production once again came from the charity stripe, as he went 11-of-12 from the line. Jones also added five rebounds, five assists and two steals on the day.

“I’m just comfortable with the ball in my hands,” Jones said. “I trust my instincts.”

Jones’ 24 points were also the first time he had passed the 20-point mark in a game since Feb. 15 against Cincinnati, where Jones had 22.

Along with Jones came the help of the Presidents; the duo of junior forward Joshua Jefferson and senior center Dishon Jackson, who were the final two Cyclones in double figures.

Jefferson, who led Iowa State’s near-comeback effort against BYU with 19 points, scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field while knocking down both of his 3-point attempts.

While Jefferson hasn’t been known to attempt shots from deep, he made sure to choose his shots and made them count by knocking down both shots. Jefferson also added seven rebounds, two assists and two steals as well.

For Jefferson’s counterpart, Jackson scored 11 points on 4-of-5 field goal shooting, while going 3-of-4 from the free throw line.

Jackson’s 11 points were the first time he had reached the double-digit mark since Feb. 18 against Colorado, where he had 13.

Along with his scoring, Jackson set a new career high in steals with three swipes on Saturday, while collecting four rebounds, an assist and a block.

Jones, Jefferson and Jackson’s contributions also gave leeway to the Cyclones’ success from inside, as 34 of Iowa State’s 73 points came from the paint, which is the highest total since Feb. 11 against UCF when the Cyclones had 38.

“I was proud of Dishon,” Otzelberger said. “He was a huge positive for us by attacking the paint and scoring at the rim. Our guards did a good job of driving it and if we have that intentionality and what we do offensively of really getting into the paint aggressively, things go well.”

Iowa State converts turnovers into points, unlike Kansas State

One of the main keys to the Cyclones’ success over the Wildcats came from the points off turnovers differential.

For starters, Kansas State committed 17 turnovers, while Iowa State committed 11. From those, the Cyclones found a way to score 22 points off of the Wildcats’ mistakes, while Kansas State could only muster up six points off Iowa State’s mistakes.

Even in the first half, the Cyclones found a way to make it count on both sides of the court, as the points off turnovers were 14-0 in favor of Iowa State. The Cyclones only forced seven of the Wildcats’ 17 total turnovers in that half, which showed how quickly Iowa State wanted to get ahead.

On the day, the Cyclones collected 11 steals, which aside from the double-overtime loss to BYU where Iowa State had 18 steals, was the highest number of steals since Jan. 25 against Arizona State, where the Cyclones also had 11.

The transition game has been a big priority for Otzelberger and co. this season, and showed its effectiveness in the regular season finale against Kansas State.

“Those are big plays for us,” Otzelberger said. “We take a lot of pride defensively in being able to generate turnovers and in our ball pressure. Our guys had really good focus in that area. We got to continue to be that team every single night out and when we do, we will continue to be successful.”

Wildcats’ struggles from deep lead to Iowa State win

Along with the turnover game, the Cyclones excelled in preventing Kansas State from catching fire from deep, as the Wildcats shot a combined 2-for-21 (9.5%) from 3-point range.

Both of Kansas State’s makes came from the first half, but also included 12 other misses from deep, as the Wildcats narrowly avoided their season-low of 3-pointers, when they went 1-for-19 against Arizona on Feb. 11.

“Our physicality and our urgency to get stops,” Jefferson said about the Cyclones’ defensive output. “We did a much better job of stopping the ball and keeping them out of the paint.”

Despite Kansas State not being one of the best teams in conference when it comes to shooting from long range, the Wildcats just could not find any luck when it came to shooting from outside.

While Kansas State did eventually find ways to score from inside the arc and found ways to draw contact, Iowa State’s defense held strong in preventing the Wildcats from getting good looks from deep.

“When you’re in the position where the other team took it to you last time, [this was] a pride game,” Otzelberger said. “Our guys stepped up and played a great game.”