The Cyclones went inside early and often Thursday afternoon en route to a 81-79 overtime victory.
They were lead by Gabe Kalscheur and Osun Osunniyi, who poured in 23 and 17, respectively. Jaren Holmes contributed a solid 12-9-5 as well.
The game started out with Iowa State jumping out to an early 7-3 lead. Osun would open the game loudly with a big dunk, setting the tone for the rest of the game. Villanova would counter with a literal run of three pointers, canning three straight and getting fouled on a fourth attempt.
Iowa State would get back into the game, and it would be a back and forth contest until half, though Iowa State would maintain the lead until close to halftime. Kalscheur would start hot, hitting early threes before cooling off, ultimately shooting 2-8 for the half. Others, including Hason Ward and Rob Jones, contributed down low, with Osun leading the way in the paint to the tune of 10 first half points.
The second half would be a whirlwind that saw Iowa State take a commanding lead, surrender the lead at the end of the half to lead to overtime, and an eventual Cyclone win.
The run to a 16 point lead would be keyed, once again, by Gabe, Osun, and Jaren Holmes. Eventually, though, Villanova crept back into it, largely aided by free throws. The Clones couldn’t seem stop fouling the Wildcats, leading to a final discrepancy of 25 attempts to 15 for the Cyclones, a margin made narrower by the final minutes of OT.
Iowa State wound up with a 5 point lead before a Hauser 3 pointer made it 2 points. A Gabe miss resulted in an Osun block on a 3 for the win, but Brandon Slater got fouled on the rebound and sank both freebies. Holmes’s jumper for the win went long, sending the game to OT.
It was all Cyclones in the extra session, as Grill opened the scoring with a trey, Gabe added one of his own, and Osun eventually sealed the win with a strong and-1 finish. Tamin Lipsey would seal the win with clutch free throw shooting, and the Cyclones are on to the Semi Finals to face #1 North Carolina.
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