Milan Momcilovic scored 24 points with 6-of-10 shooting from distance, Joshua Jefferson had 13 points and a career-high 10 assists and No. 15 Iowa State dominated Syracuse 95-64 in a Players Era consolation game Wednesday in Las Vegas.
Killyan Toure added 19 points and six assists while Blake Buchanan and Dominick Nelson each scored 12 for the Cyclones, who broke the game open with a 60-30 second half.
Iowa State (7-0) was the only team to start the Players Era tournament 2-0 and be left out of the championship game and the third-place game due to the point differential tiebreaker. The Cyclones may have taken their frustrations out on the Orange (4-3), who finished their Vegas trip 0-3.
The Cyclones — who shot a remarkable 71% in the second half — turned 19 Syracuse giveaways into 30 points. They also benefited from 52 points in the paint, with 13 layups and eight dunks.
Iowa State veteran guard Tamin Lipsey (groin) sat out for the second straight game.
Sadiq White Jr. led Syracuse with 14 points before fouling out. Tyler Betsey and JJ Starling pitched in 10 points apiece for the Orange, who played this week without Donnie Freeman (lower-body injury).
Iowa State trailed 18-16 during the first half when it ripped off a 12-0 run across less than two minutes of game time. The final 10 points came off Syracuse turnovers — one offensive foul and three steals.
Toure pilfered the ball from Kiyan Anthony and sped away for a dunk to put the Cyclones ahead. The run ended on Jefferson’s steal and pass to set up Toure’s 3-pointer.
Syracuse countered with a game-tying 10-0 sprint featuring three triples, and it briefly led 31-30 at the 2:48 mark on another three by Betsey. Iowa State held a 35-34 edge at halftime after Starling drilled Syracuse’s eighth three of the half.
But the second half was all Iowa State. Jefferson anchored an early 7-0 run with a layup, a steal and a dunk in a 21-second span.
Starling scored to bring Syracuse within six, but the Cyclones had the next 10 straight — the last seven coming on fast breaks — for their largest lead yet at 55-39 with 15:33 to go. Momcilovic added an interception and easy dunk, the first of his college career, to make it 57-40.
Syracuse endured a four-minute field goal drought for the second time in the half and allowed another 10-0 ISU run to make it a blowout.
–Field Level Media
