AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State men’s basketball team (1-3, 0-1 Big 12) dropped its Big 12-opener to Kansas State (3-4, 1-0 Big 12), 74-65.
Junior Rasir Bolton dropped a team-high 19 points in the game, with 15 of them coming in the second half. Bolton went 7-10 from the field while also churning out seven assists and pulling down two rebounds.
There wasn’t much separating these two squads early in the contest with both teams trading leads multiple times in the first 10 minutes of the game. Midway through the first half, the Wildcats opened up a 12 point lead (26-14), piecing together a 13-0 run.
The Cyclones scrapped back, cutting the deficit to six points, but the Wildcats answered and brought a 40-26 lead into the locker room at half. Iowa State shot 12-23 (52%) from the floor in the first half, but only connected on 2-10 attempts from deep.
Kansas State held a double-digit lead for most of the second half. The Cyclones pieced together a few runs in the second half to cut into the Wildcat lead, but were never able to retake the lead.
Down the stretch, Iowa State cut the Kansas State lead down to five. The Cyclones’ comeback bid ultimately came up short as Kansas State went on to win, 74-65.
Iowa State hits the road on Friday, Dec. 17 to take on West Virginia. Tip time between the Cyclones and Mountaineers is set for 8 p.m. from WVU Coliseum. That game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
