Milan Momcilovic scored a game-high 27 points as No. 4 Iowa State cruised to a 91-60 win over Long Beach State on Saturday in Ames, Iowa.
Momcilovic connected on 7 of 9 3-point attempts for the Cyclones (12-0). Joshua Jefferson added 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and reached the 1,000 point career milestone when he cut through the lane and pounded down a two-hand slam with 38 seconds left in the first half.
Blake Buchanan had a double-double as he scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while Tamin Lipsey chipped in 10 points and seven assists.
Gavin Sykes led Long Beach State (3-10) with 19 points and Rob Diaz added 13 points.
It was a wire-to-wire win for the Cyclones, who opened up the game on a 15-2 run that Lipsey capped with a jumper.
Iowa State controlled the game inside with a 48-32 advantage in points scored in the paint.
A Buchanan up-and-under layup extended the Cyclones’ lead to 26-6 as the midway point of the first half neared.
The Iowa State defense held the Beach to 39.7% shooting from the field (25 of 63) and 13.6% from behind the arc. Conversely, Iowa State lit it up, shooting 55.4% from the field (36 of 65) and 52.3% (11 of 21) from three-point range.
A bright spot for the Beach came with a Sykes follow-up dunk to get the Long Beach State into double figures as they trailed 45-11.
With 3:15 left in the first half, Isaiah Lewis hit the first three of the night for the Beach that made it 48-16. Shaquil Bender notched the last bucket of the first half for the Beach. Iowa State held a 57-20 halftime advantage.
In the second half, the Beach went on a 10-2 run punctuated by a Diaz steal and layup as the Cyclones’ lead was 71-36 with 10:49 remaining. Buchanan followed up a Nate Heise miss with a tip-in to stop the Beach rally. Another Diaz layup cut the Iowa State lead to 76-45.
–Field Level Media
