Iowa State Roars to Another Victory, One Win From Top 10 Ranking

When halftime arrived in Ames Tuesday night with the visiting Kansas State Wildcats holding the lead, ESPN U's play-by-play announcer revealed K-State was undefeated when they led at intermission. They aren't anymore.

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In a game that featured 13 lead changes and 7 ties, Iowa State prevailed in a battle of Big 12 heavyweights Tuesday evening at Hilton Coliseum. 12th-ranked Iowa State, now 11-0 at home, came back from a 2-point halftime deficit to beat 5th-ranked Kansas State 80-76. An Iowa State team known for its defense put up 49 points in the final 20 minutes in beating a ranked team for the 5th time this season.

The biggest offensive weapon for the Cyclones Tuesday night was 6'4" senior guard Jaren Holmes (#13). He averages 13.5 per game and poured in 23 to lead Iowa State.

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Gabe Kalscheur (#22), another 6'4" senior guard, scored 19. That's six more than Kalscheur's season average.

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6'10" senior center Osun Osunniyi (#21) pitched in with 16, including this thunderous dunk over Kansas State's Kayontae Johnson.

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Iowa State's other double-figure scorer was 6'1" freshman guard Tamin Lipsey (#3). The Ames High grad had 10 points.

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The victory moved the Cyclones to 15-4 on the year and into a 3-way tie for first place in the Big 12 at 6-2. The other two teams at the top are Kansas State and Texas. Iowa State has beaten them both in Ames during the past week.

*Tre King celebrates in front of the home crowd.

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For those who haven't been paying attention, since being blown out by Iowa on December 8, Iowa State has lost only two games... both of them by two points. They lost at #2 Kansas (62-60) on January 14 and at Oklahoma State (61-59) last Saturday.

Up next for the Cyclones is a former Big 12 school, Missouri. Iowa State plays the 15-5 Tigers Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. You can watch the game on ESPN2. There's no question in my mind that a victory puts T.J. Otzelberger's Iowa State Cyclones in the top 10 in next week's national rankings.

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