Kissimmee, Florida – Iowa State (5-2, 0-0 Big 12) lost to No. 12 Texas A&M (6-1, 0-0 SEC) in the third-place game Sunday night, dropping its second straight game. Ta. They won the ESPN Event Invitational by a score of 73-69.
After leading by as many as 21 points in the first half, the Aggies allowed a rare comeback due to turnovers and poor shooting, but ultimately lost control in the second half.
Iowa State finished fourth in the Thanksgiving MTE, giving them three top-four finishes over the past three seasons. TJ Otzel Burger (1st place at the 2021 NIT Tipoff, 2nd place at the 2022 Phil Knight Invitational).
The Cyclones had four freshmen players score in double figures on the day. Milan Momshilović He sank four 3-point shots and led the team with 15 points. Keshon Gilbert He had a season-high seven assists, hit two triples and went 4-4 from the charity stripe, finishing with 14 points. Tamin Lipsey and curtis jones Lipsey finished with 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for his second career double-double and rounded out the double-digit scorers.
SEC Preseason Player of the Year Wade Baldwin IV was mostly held in check by ISU, holding the Aggies to just two points in double figures as he scored 14 points on 5-15 shooting from the floor. Baldwin IV was forced to turn the ball over eight times. TAMU was led by Solomon Washington, who scored 18 points on 66.7 percent shooting with six boards.
how did it happen
Iowa State played its best basketball in the tournament in the first half, jumping on its former Big 12 foe early and holding a 12-point lead by the 8-and-under media timeout. With 5 minutes and 38 seconds remaining, Momcilovic hit a jumper and a 3-pointer, increasing the Cyclones’ lead to 17 points.
Jones’ back-to-back baskets gave Iowa State a 35-14 advantage, increasing ISU’s lead to 21 points at the 2:44 mark, its largest point of the game.
The Aggies hit a three, two jumpers, and a few free throws to cut the halftime deficit to 35-25, ending the first half on an 11-0 run. Gilbert led the Cyclones with nine points, while Washington led TAMU with 10 points.
Texas A&M started the second half the same way it ended the first half, with the extra point cutting the lead against ISU to just four points by the U16 media timeout. The Aggies tied the score at 13:09 and took the lead on Andershon Garcia’s second-chance basket with 12:30 left. From then on, TAMU maintained the lead for the rest of the race.
The Cyclones were able to cut the lead to one point five times in the final 12 minutes, but could not get over the hump. ISU came within one possession late in the game with less than 10 seconds left, but TAMU persevered and won.
top performer
As previously mentioned, Lipsey had a career-high 14 rebounds, marking his second career double-double. He averaged a team-high 16.7 points and a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game in the tournament, setting the tone for the Cyclones in all three games. Lipsey also had 12 assists and nine steals in the last three games.
Note
- trekking He is three points short of 200 points for his ISU career.
- jackson paveletske Today was the 40th game of his career.
- curtis jones He hit his 100th career 3-point shot today, knocking down a pair.
- Jones is three points away from reaching 600 career points.
- Keshon Gilbert Today, his total playing time exceeded 1,500 minutes.
- Milan Momshilović One point shy of 100 points for the season.
what’s next
Following the ESPN event invitation, Iowa State is scheduled to play DePaul in a Friday night game in Chicago on Dec. 1. Friday’s game is part of the BIG EAST/Big 12 Battle, which will tip off at 7:30 p.m. and be streamed on: FS1.