Manhattan, Kansas, — Iowa State (20-9, 7-9 Big 12) escaped with a huge road win at Kansas State (14-14, 6-10 Big 12), 74-73, Saturday afternoon in Manhattan, Kan., to win its fourth-straight in the league.
The Cyclones appeared to have the game in control up 70-58 with 2:18 remaining, but a furious comeback by the Wildcats almost spoiled ISU’s trip home.
KSU went on a 12-2 run and had a chance to win or tie with 16 seconds left, but Jayden Walker came up with a big steal on Nigel Pack with four seconds left and Aljaz Kunc hit two clutch free-throws to ice the game.
ISU avenged a loss to KSU two weeks ago where they led by 15 points in the second half and broke the school record for its biggest turnaround from the season before at +18.
Caleb Grill was on fire, matching his season high in 3-pointers with six and leading the Cyclones with 18 points. Izaiah Brockington scored 17 points and had eight boards and Tyrese Hunter had a double-double with 13 points and a career-high 10 assists.
It marked the 11th time a Cyclone rookie had 10 or more assists in a game.
A rough start made the Cyclones play catch-up from the start, falling behind 13-2 to open the game. ISU bounced back with a 13-2 run of its own to tie the game at 15-15, however, as Grill and Walker hit 3-pointers.
A jumper by Brockington, who had 11 first-half points, gave the Cyclones the lead at 27-26 with 3:40 left before intermission.
ISU briefly led 34-29 with back-to-back buckets from Walker and Robert Jones and went into the break with a 37-35 advantage.
Grill kept making 3-pointers and Kunc buried a trey to give the Cyclones a 56-43 with 12:06 left in the game.
However, the Cyclones went cold in the six minutes, allowing the Wildcats to cut the lead to 58-55 behind a 12-2 run with under seven minutes remaining.
A huge hoop from Robert Jones gave life and the Cyclones a 63-57 lead and later he followed a Hunter missed shot with a one-handed jam to push ISU out in front 70-58 with 2:18 left.
ISU was able to hang on from there to get its 20th win of the season after recording just two a year ago.
Iowa State returns home to face Oklahoma State on Wednesday (March 2). Tipoff is at 6 p.m. CT.
