The Cyclones’ offensive jolt in the second half, led by the finishing touches of a historic performance from Tamin Lipsey, propelled them to a bounce-back win over DePaul.

Coming off of a pair of losses in Orlando, Florida, Iowa State was in need of a ‘get back on track’ game, which they found in the first true road win. The Cyclones’ 99-80 victory over the Blue Demons started out as another close game but quickly shifted in favor of Iowa State when the Cyclones started to play their form of winning basketball.

Iowa State snapped its two-game skip and is back in the win column at 6-2 now on the year after a game that saw many players find their groove offensively.

Tight-knit first half

DePaul opened the first half with hot shooting and climbed out to an 18-8 lead due to the Cyclones not guarding the perimeter well in transition. The Blue Demons started 6-for-11 from the field including four 3-pointers in their commanding first-half run.

The Cyclones looked like they were falling into what hurt them in their two straight losing heading into Chicago, and were in need of a change on offense.

Jackson Paveletzke was again trusted with important early minutes off the bench and resurged the floor with his craftiness to get inside. His time in the first half was highlighted by a pass to a mid-air Lipsey who connected on a dazzling floater.

The Cyclones turned things around on both sides of the court with a 16-3 run to retake the lead, with Lipsey commanding the offense during that stretch with seven straight points.

Iowa State had times when it could have built off of its run in the middle of the half, but fell into a handful of issues that haunted the team in its prior two games. The Cyclones’ tendency to force bad passes and put up poor shot attempts kept it from executing in transition.

The Cyclones ended the first half with eight forced turnovers, but because of their miscues on the other side of the court were held to 11 points off of those turnovers.

To finish out the first half, Depaul and Iowa State traded shots back and forth, down to the last second.

A late shot-clock three by the Blue Demons’ Jeremiah Oden was followed up by a last-second deep two from Lipsey, which fired up the Cyclone bench and gave them a 41-37 lead heading into the break.

Lipsey was one of three players to finish with nine points in the first half, accompanied by Keshon Gilbert and Tre King. The sophomore guard was already on triple-double watch after his first 16 minutes on the floor as he added six boards and five assists.

Hot start widens the margin

Right from the beginning of the second half, the Cyclones looked like they were done messing around.

Iowa State opened up the second half with an electric 16-2 run including eight points scored off of turnovers. After a first half where the Cyclones could not find a good shot in transition, they opened up with a determination to push the pace and get the ball in the paint.

King played a commanding role in Iowa State’s fast-paced offense early in the second half. When the Cyclones corralled a loose ball from the Blue Demons, King raced his way into the paint and found himself on the receiving end of a slick pass inside.

To the tune of nine points through the first five minutes of the second half, King had already matched his first-half scoring numbers and helped swing the momentum back in Iowa State’s favor.

King continued his thunderous start throughout the rest of the second half and was joined by his teammates who constantly worked the ball into the paint. After failing to control the pace well in the first half, Iowa State settled into its offense and continued to build upon its second-half spark.

Whereas earlier in the game the Cyclones’ paint presence was spotty, the signal was strong in the second half. Unlike in the first half, Iowa State found success in pushing the ball inside with all its players that touched the court and finished with 28 points in the paint during the second half.

DePaul constantly tried to storm back into the game with mini-scoring runs of their own, but the Cyclones continued to answer back.

The Cyclones found multiple players they could trust to create and sink shots. They converted on 21 of their 34 shot attempts in the second half, including 4-for-9 from beyond the arc, and had six players break the double-digit scoring mark, led by King with 24.

Paveletzke found himself over the double-digit point mark for the first time this season with his 11 points and continued his development as the Cyclones go to point guard off the bench.

Lipsey enters the record books

After dancing around triple-double territory throughout multiple games this season, Lipsey’s name will now be remembered forever. He inked his name into Iowa State history with his 10th rebound in the final minute against DePaul for his first collegiate triple-double.

Although his scoring numbers took a back seat in the second half, his presence was felt with his tight window passes and aggressive rebounding on the defensive side. He made wise decisions throughout the game with his passes and finished with three turnovers during his 35 minutes on the court.

Lipsey became the first Cyclone to record a triple-double since Tyrese Haliburton against TCU in 2020.

The Ames native finished the game with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.