Iowa State basketball goes inside to crush Iowa in Cy-Hawk matchup
AMES – Rivalry games rely so much on tradition for their appeal and their fervor.
Iowa State kept the recent tradition of blowouts in the Cy-Hawk game very much alive Thursday.
The Cyclones attacked Iowa inside early, often and relentlessly to build a big early lead that turned into a 90-65 rivalry romp at Hilton Coliseum.
"It's delightful," Iowa State senior Robert Jones said of the intrastate victory.
Iowa State (7-2) scored its best win of the year while the Hawkeyes (5-4) slid to 1-4 against high-major opponents this season. It was Iowa's second-straight blowout loss after losing at No. 4 Purdue on Monday by 19.
More: Iowa basketball's offensive shortcomings are among pressing issues in two-game slide
The game continued the trend of lopsided Cy-Hawk games with the last seven decided by double-digits and with an average scoring margin of 17.
It's been record-setting routs with Iowa scoring the most-lopsided win in series history in 2020 (28) and Iowa State getting its largest-ever win in 2021 (20) before topping that mark Thursday. That makes it three of the last four years that the game has been decided by a historic margin.
Iowa State forwards Robert Jones and Tre King crushed Iowa inside, with Jones tallying 18 points and King adding 17. King was 8-for-11 from the floor while Jones was a perfect 6-for-6.
The Cyclones got 25 points from Keshon Gilbert, and Tamin Lipsey had 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists after scoring a triple-double against DePaul last week.
Iowa, which entered the night with the fifth-lowest turnover percentage in the country, committed 19 turnovers and shot 38.6% from the field.
"It was a step to prove to ourselves we can do that for 40 minutes and keep our focus and be locked in," said ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger. "It’s something we’re going to continue to demand going forward."
The victory sends Iowa State into a quiet portion of its schedule on a serious high note. The Cyclones still have four games remaining before Big 12 play begins, but all are home games against low-major competition that, on paper, shouldn’t provide much of a challenge for Otzelberger’s team.
The first of those opponents will visit Hilton Coliseum on Sunday when Prairie View A&M arrives for a noon tip on ESPN+.
First-half smackdown
It was quickly apparent that this year’s rendition of the Cy-Hawk game would not have the drama of some of the series’ most memorable chapters.
Iowa State just dominated from the start and never looked back.
The Cyclones’ lead reached double-digits before the 11-minute mark of the first half and ballooned to 20 in the final minute of the first half until they went into the break up 47-29.
Iowa State shot 54.5% from the field in the opening 20 minutes while holding the Hawkeyes to 34.6% to go along with an uncharacteristic 12 turnovers.
Domination inside
The story of the game, though, was how Iowa State was able to dismantle the Hawkeyes inside.
The Cyclones outscored Iowa in the paint, 46-18, including a 30-2 advantage in the first half.
King and Jones combined to do much of the damage, combining for 23 first-half points on 10-of-11 shooting.
"To come out strong, to come out physical to let them know that we’re here," Jones said of the duo's early dominance. "It’s our court. This is our arena, and we’re going to get the better of you guys.
"And that starts down low in the paint. You control the paint, you control the game, so we just had to make sure we bring that fight to them immediately."
Their domination was a combination of old-school, back-to-the-basket post-ups along with crafty passing in the interior that capitalized on Iowa’s interior help defense and pick-and-roll coverage.
"They play the ball screen, two guys come to the basketball," Otzelberger said of the Hawkeyes' pick-and-roll defense. "We felt like there was some opportunities to get Rob and Tre going right away. Our guards did a great job making the reads.
"Those guys did an exceptional job finishing and going right at the rim. That set the tone for the whole game. When you go in there and have success right away, it sets you up for future success."
It was a savvy evaluation and gameplan by Otzelberger and his staff, who clearly saw Iowa’s interior defense as a weakness to exploit. And it was an impressive execution of that plan by the players, who punished the Hawkeyes by ruthlessly sticking to it.
The Cyclones were 15-for-19 (79%) in the restricted area and 23-for-40 (57.5%) overall in the paint.
Whether the inside scoring can be a repeatable and sustainable hallmark of Iowa State’s offense is another question. Jones historically has not been much of an offensive threat, while King has never been a primary scoring option for the Cyclones.
Iowa’s defense is also uniquely susceptible to physical presences like Jones (6-foot-10, 255 pounds) and King (6-7, 230) without much brawn of its own inside. The Hawkeyes entered the game ranked 226th nationally in 2-point field goal defense percentage.
"To be quite honest, that’s the gameplan (to go inside) every night," King said. "We have a unique team where we have a lot of guys that are very physical and very good finishers at the rim. One thing that (the coaching staff has) always preached to us is dominating the paint.
"Credit to guys like Keshon and Tamin, who make the plays getting downhill. We really just played off of them. It’s really easy when you’re all flowing and in sync like that like we were tonight."
Sustainable or not, King, Jones and the Cyclones put on an absolute clinic of identifying a weakness and punishing it to crushing effect against the Hawkeyes.
"Our identity has been and will continue to be about attacking the paint first and going inside," Otzelberger said.
Travis Hines covers Iowa State University sports for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State basketball crushes Iowa in Cy-Hawk blowout
