Freshman Killyan Toure scored a season-high 20 points to help lead No. 15 Iowa State to a 78-60 victory over Creighton on the second day of the Players Era men’s championship in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
Joshua Jefferson had 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and Blake Buchanan added 12 points and nine boards for the Cyclones (6-0), who played without preseason All-Big 12 guard Tamin Lipsey, who suffered a lower-body injury in the final minutes of the 83-82 win over No. 14 St. John’s on Monday. Milan Momcilovic scored 10 points in the win.
Jasen Green and Josh Dix scored 15 points apiece for Creighton (3-3), which committed 17 turnovers in the loss. Hudson Greer had 12 points and Isaac Traudt chipped in 10 off the bench for the Bluejays, who fell to Baylor by seven points on Monday.
After trailing by 14 at halftime, Creighton trimmed its deficit to 46-38 on an individual 7-0 run by Dix.
Iowa State answered with a 10-2 spurt, going ahead by 16 on Toure and Dominykas Pleta’s layups with 12:26 remaining.
The Cyclones took their largest lead to that point at 69-50 at the 7:43 mark on a Jefferson layup before a Green dunk and Dix’s third 3-pointer pulled the Bluejays within 14 with 5:22 left.
Layups by Buchanon and Toure pushed the lead back to 18 with 4:21 left, sealing Iowa State’s eighth straight win over Creighton.
After Traudt’s 3-pointer tied the score at 15 with 10:45 left in the first half, Toure and Buchanan’s dunks began a 10-0 Iowa State run.
Green’s mid-range jumper ended a 4:34 scoreless drought for the Bluejays before Nate Heise and Jefferson hit layups to give the Cyclones a 29-17 lead.
Momcilovic, who drilled five 3-pointers on Monday, connected on his first triple of the game with eight seconds left before halftime, giving the Cyclones a 40-26 lead. Toure led all scorers with 10 first-half points, while Green’s eight paced Creighton.
–Field Level Media
