Cyclones Take Down Creighton on the Road, 64-58

Tonight, the undefeated and 19th-ranked Iowa State Cyclones headed to Omaha to take on Greg McDermott’s young Creighton Blue Jays.

As has been the case in virtually every game this season, the Cyclones brought the defensive intensity right away, forcing turnover after turnover, but struggled to get anything into the basket. Both teams had such difficulty scoring early on that a Tristan Enaruna mid-range opened the scoring for the game almost three minutes in.

Then, the combination of Iowa State continuing to hit everything but the bottom of the bucket and some deep threes from Creighton allowed the Blue Jays to open up an 18-9 lead.

After a T.J. Otzelberger timeout, the Cyclones looked much more organized, hitting George Conditt on back-cuts for open dunks on consecutive buckets before a Caleb Grill three and a monster dunk from Tyrese Hunter pulled the Cyclones closer. Then a desperation heave on a turnaround three from Grill connected right before the first-half buzzer, tying the game up at 23 apiece.

The start of the second half saw some much better offense from the Cyclones, with Caleb Grill hitting his third three of the game and Tyrese Hunter laying it in after a pretty drive through the lane.

TURNS OUT CALEB GRILL IS GOOD AT SHOOTING BASKETBALLS CAUSE HE JUST CASHED ANOTHER THREE.

Aaaaaaaaaaand we’re right back to the rock fight. Both teams exchanged occasional buckets for a few minutes, but each score was a battle. A few hard-earned buckets and defensive stands later, and Iowa State somehow apparated an eight-point lead out of thin air at the 8-minute mark.

Back and forth they went for the next few minutes, as Iowa State hung onto a six-point lead by the time the under-4:00 mark rolled around. Then, with two minutes left, Izaiah Brockington splashes a massive three to get Iowa State’s lead to seven. After a Creighton bucket and two Caleb Grill free throws, the lead climbed back to seven with a minute and a half left.

After a few scares by the Cyclones on inbound passes, Brockington made another huge play by snagging a massive rebound after a Creighton three-point attempt. From there, the Cyclones were able to make their free throws down the stretch to put away Creighton once and for all.

Final Score:

Iowa State - 64

Creighton - 58

IT’S TIME TO TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT YOUR STILL-UNDEFEATED IOWA STATE CYCLONES MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM.