Field Level Media
Jan 26, 2019
In the first matchup of top 25 teams in the three-year history of The Pavilion at Ole Miss, No. 24 Iowa State never trailed and shot nearly 70 percent from the field Saturday in cruising past No. 20 Mississippi 87-73 as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Talen Horton-Tucker paced the Cyclones (15-5) with a game-high 23 points, hitting 11 of 18 shots from the field. Lindell Wigginton came off the bench to score 18 points and Marial Shayok added 17.
Iowa State tallied 26 assists on 38 field goals and posted a 46-26 advantage in points in the paint.
Breein Tyree scored 22 points to lead the Rebels (14-5), but made only 9 of 22 shots from the field. Terence Davis collected 16 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Blake Hinson added 13 points and Devontae Shuler kicked in 10.
Ole Miss struggled to make shots, continuing a recent trend that has contributed to losses in three of the last four games after earning a top 25 ranking. The Rebels connected on only 36.2 percent of their field goals, in sharp contrast to the Cyclones' 69.1 percent marksmanship.
Iowa State wasted little time putting its stamp on the game, establishing a 20-9 lead at the 13:10 mark of the first half when Wigginton stuck a 3-pointer off Shayok's feed. The margin reached 25-13 on Nick Weiler-Babb's jumper with 8:42 left before Ole Miss finally gained traction offensively.
The Rebels rattled off a 21-12 burst over the next five-plus minutes, drawing within 37-34 when Davis pulled up in transition and buried a 3-pointer with 2:26 remaining. That was the first of four 3-pointers the teams exchanged in a 62-second span.
Davis hit a free throw with 55 seconds on the clock to finish the scoring, sending the Cyclones into halftime with a 43-38 lead. Iowa State shot 62.1 percent from the field before the break, enabling it to overcome 10 turnovers that were converted into nine points.
--Field Level Media