Gabe Kalscheur scored a season-high 23 points as Iowa State outlasted Villanova for an 81-79 overtime victory Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Ore.
Iowa State (4-0) will face No. 1 North Carolina in the semifinals on Friday while Villanova opposes Portland in a consolation game.
Kalscheur, who was limited to six minutes Sunday against Milwaukee due to a bruised hip, came off the bench to make 8 of 19 shots and five 3-pointers.
His final 3-pointer was a step-back from the left corner over Villanova’s Brandon Slater that rolled around the net before going in to give Iowa State a 75-71 lead with 3:01 remaining in overtime. After that shot, Iowa State sweated out the finish.
Villanova’s Eric Dixon converted the putback of his own missed shot with 1:39 remaining to make it 75-74 but teammate Jordan Longino missed a jumper with 58 seconds left.
Following an Iowa State timeout with 43 seconds left, Osun Osunniyi converted a layup as Dixon fell down with 36 seconds left. Osunniyi blocked Caleb Daniels’ shot out of bounds nine seconds later, and Tamin Lipsey grabbed a steal and hit four free throws in the final 20 seconds to clinch it.
Osunniyi added 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting as Iowa State scored 40 points in the paint. Jaren Holmes contributed 12 for the Cyclones, who shot 45.5 percent.
Daniels led all scorers with 25 points and seven assists but Villanova never led after the opening minutes. Dixon collected 21 points and 10 rebounds while Slater contributed 14 points as the Wildcats shot 40.4 percent.
After the teams headed into halftime deadlocked at 34-all, Kalschuer hit two 3s and a layup as Iowa State opened the second with a 17-1 run to take a 51-35 lead on his fourth 3-pointer with 15:11 remaining.
Villanova ended the second half with seven straight points and Brendan Hausen’s 3-pointer made it 67-65 with 1:07 remaining before a frenetic final minute of regulation.
Iowa State was unable to clinch it as Kalschuer missed a jumper with 29 seconds left and Slater secured the rebound. Following Villanova’s final timeout, Osunniyi blocked Dixon’s 3-pointer with 12 seconds left but Kalschuer fouled Slater, who tied it at 67-all with 10 seconds left on the ensuing free throws.
Holmes missed an off-balance jumper from the left side over Longino with two seconds left to send it to overtime.
–Field Level Media
