IOWA CITY, Iowa — No. 3 Iowa State found itself down 13 in the first half but came all the way back to defeat Iowa 89-80, its first victory in Iowa City since 2014.

Game of two halves

While the Cyclones may have ended up pulling away to win the game by nine points, it took a while for them to get going. 

In the first half, it seemed like everything was going Iowa’s way. 

At one point in the game, Iowa was 9-for-12 from the field and 5-for-6 from 3-point range, leading by as much as 13 points. 

“[Iowa] was playing really well, hitting every shot it felt like sometimes,” Iowa State guard Curtis Jones said. 

The Hawkeyes cooled off a little bit to end the half, but they were still scoring at an elite level. Iowa shot 58.6% from the field and 53.8% from 3-point range, sending Iowa State into the locker room trailing 44-37 after the first 20 minutes. 

“They had us back on our heels for the first 35 minutes,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said.

“In the first half, it felt like everything they put up was going to go in,” Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey said. 

The Cyclones played much better in the second half, but every time it seemed as though they were on the verge of taking over the game, Iowa would respond with a run of its own, keeping Iowa State at arm’s length. 

“We were down six points it felt like all game,” senior guard Nate Heise said. “Every media timeout we just said, ‘We’ll get it turned around,’ and eventually we did.”

Iowa State did turn it around. 

It was Heise who was finally able to bring the Cyclones all the way back, tying the game at 66 with just under eight minutes left in the game. 

“The biggest reason I came here is to play in games like this,” Heise said. 

With the game tied at 74 with just under four minutes left in the game, Iowa State stomped on the gas, going on a 12-2 run, eventually winning the game 89-80. 

Iowa State improved greatly on both sides of the ball in the second half. 

On offense, the Cyclones shot 53.3% from 3-point range after shooting just 23.1% in the first half. 

On defense, Iowa State held Iowa to shooting 32.4% from the field and 26.7% from 3-point range in the second half, after Iowa’s dominant first-half shooting performance. During the late run, the Cyclones’ defense did not allow Iowa to make a single field goal until there were only 13 seconds left on the clock. 

“I’m proud of our resiliency,” Otzelberger said. 

Curtis Jones leads the way 

The Cyclones had five players score in double figures, including Joshua Jefferson, Lipsey, Dishon Jackson and Heise, but it was Jones who led the way. 

Coming off the bench, Jones scored a team-high 23 points, going 8-for-15 from the field and 5-for-8 from 3-point range.

“[Jones], in a major way, made play, after play, after shot, and so many clutch ones,” Otzelberger said. 

Jones did the majority of his damage in the second half when the team needed him the most. The senior guard went 5-for-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from 3-point range in the second half to lead Iowa State’s second-half charge. 

His biggest shot of the game came just after Iowa cut the Cyclones’ lead to two points with just under two minutes left in the game. 

Jefferson had the ball in the paint but faced a double-team. The senior forward turned around and found a wide-open Jones behind the 3-point line, and Jones capitalized, hitting his fifth and final three of the game. 

“When it left my hand, I didn’t think it was good, so I was really happy it went in,” Jones said.

Jones went on to put the finishing touches on the game, hitting two free throws to make the game 89-80 with four seconds left, as “Let’s go State” chants echoed through Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa State wins in Iowa City for the first time since 2014

This was the first time in 10 years that Iowa State fans who made the trip to Iowa City were able to drive home happy. 

Since that game in 2014 that saw No. 14 Iowa State defeat Iowa 90-75, Iowa State has had nothing but negative experiences in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Cyclones had gone 0-4 in their last four visits, losing by an average of 19 points per game, the closest of those games being two 14-point losses.

Now, that drought is over, and for the first time since 2015, Iowa State can say it has a winning streak over Iowa, and for Ames native Tamin Lipsey, that means a lot. 

“It felt amazing, I mean the last time was 2014, so about 10 years,” Lipsey said. “It just brings a little bit more out of you, especially for a guy like me who grew up watching this rivalry.”

This was also the Cyclones’ first road test of the season. There is always adversity when you make a trip to play a good team, but Iowa State showed that they are prepared for whatever might come its way after battling back inside of a hostile environment.

“We expect adversity to come,” Otzelberger said. “We expect there to be challenges. We don’t prepare thinking we’re going to play perfectly or everything is going to go well. What really matters to me is when something doesn’t go your way, how do you respond?”