Milan Momcilovic made a career-best eight 3-pointers and recorded 27 points along with a career-high five steals and No. 10 Iowa State steamrolled Alcorn State 132-68 on Wednesday night at Ames, Iowa.
Jamarion Batemon established career highs of 26 points and seven 3-pointers for the Cyclones (8-0), who set school records for points in a game and 3-pointers (22) during the nonconference victory.
Joshua Jefferson added 24 points and a career-high-tying 10 assists for Iowa State, which led by as many as 66 points. Killyan Toure had 13 points, six assists and four steals, Nate Heise scored 13 points and Dominykas Pleta had 12 points for the Cyclones.
Jameel Morris produced 17 points and three steals and Shane Lancaster scored 16 points for the Braves (1-9). Bryso Calamese added 10 points for Alcorn State, which shot 48.2% from the field and was 8 of 19 from 3-point range.
Iowa State played without standout point guard Tamin Lipsey (groin) for the third straight game. The Cyclones hope he will return for Saturday’s road showdown at top-ranked Purdue.
The Cyclones set the school record for points when Batemon swished a 3-pointer with 51.5 seconds left. The old mark was 130 against The Citadel on Nov. 20, 2016, when Iowa State won by 67 points.
Alcorn State, which has yet to play a home game, has faced a tough schedule and Wednesday’s setback was its seventh on the road by at least 19 points. The Braves lost by 45 points to Minnesota, 32 to Florida State, 26 to LSU, 25 to Louisiana Tech, 20 to Maryland, and 19 to Oklahoma.
Iowa State shot a sizzling 70.8% from the field and missed just eight of its 30 3-point attempts (73.3%).
Jefferson scored 20 first-half points and the Cyclones were 10 of 12 from 3-point range in the half to take a 65-28 lead into the break.
Alcorn State started out fast and took a 7-2 lead on Morris’ 3-pointer just 77 seconds into the contest.
The Braves led 9-6 before the Cyclones took over with 17 consecutive points. Pleta converted a 3-point play to give Iowa State a 23-9 lead with 14:37 left in the first half.
The Cyclones later went on a 15-2 surge with Momcilovic hitting back-to-back threes to make it 44-15 with 6:24 remaining.
The lead went over 50 when Heise drilled a trey during a 15-0 spurt to make it 91-39 with 11:31 remaining in the game. Batemon capped the run with a trey to make it 99-39 with 9:47 to play.
Momcilovic drained two more 3-pointers in a span of 18 seconds to push the lead to 117-51 with 5:58 left.
–Field Level Media
