AMES — In a battle between top-10 teams, it was No. 6 Iowa State who got the victory, defeating No. 5 Marquette 81-70 Wednesday night. The Cyclones were led once again by guard Keshon Gilbert, who scored a team-high 24 points.
In last week’s Maui Invitational, Gilbert was the top scorer for the Cyclones, averaging 20.7 points per game over the three-game stretch. The long flight back to Ames didn’t seem to slow the senior guard down.
“He’s the engine that’s driving us right now.” head coach T.J. Otzelberger said.
Gilbert was feeling it from the opening tip, and so were the rest of the Cyclones.
Iowa State got out to a 46-37 lead over Marquette in the first half, backed by a very strong offensive performance.
The Cyclones shot a blistering 64.3% from the field and 57.1% from 3-point range.
Transfer big men Dishon Jackson and Joshua Jefferson each had strong first halves. Both Jackson and Jefferson were perfect from the field in the first half, going 4-for-4 and scoring eight points.
“Those guys are really hard workers, they’re guys that are skilled,” Otzelberger said.
Still, Gilbert was the star in the first half.
Gilbert scored 18 of his 24 points in the first half, shooting 5-for-8 from the field, 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
“He’s a load,” Marquette head coach Shaka Smart said. “We did a poor job of getting back and defending a guy like that with five guys.”
“He’s playing at such a high level, I’m so proud of [Gilbert],” Otzelberger said.
In the second half, Gilbert and the Cyclones couldn’t quite keep up their stellar shooting from the first half.
Iowa State shot just 38.7% from the field and 25% from 3-point range in the second half.
The offensive slump led the Golden Eagles to come back to tie the game at 61. But unlike the Cyclones’ loss to Auburn, which saw them blow a big lead in the second half, they were able to slam the door shut on the comeback attempt, going on a 14-0 run after the game was drawn even.
“It was a roller coaster ride,” Gilbert said.
The Cyclones held on to the lead, eventually winning the game 81-70, showing strong mental toughness after it felt like they might blow another double-digit lead against a top-10 team.
“I think we just learned from our mistakes and we don’t live in the past,” Jefferson said. “Teams that live in the past continue to make the same mistakes.”
Gilbert wasn’t as effective offensively in the second half, shooting just 2-for-7 from the field, but he brought plenty of energy and toughness.
But with four minutes left in the game, Gilbert caught a hard elbow to the nose, which forced him out of the game.
Less than a minute of game time later, Gilbert was back in the Iowa State huddle, sporting a nameless No. 51 jersey, because his original was covered in his blood.
Gilbert checked back into the game and finished the last 3:24, just one point shy of matching his career high of 25 points, showing that not only was he the best player on the court Wednesday night, but he might’ve been the toughest as well.
“Growing up having to work for everything, nothing’s easy,” Gilbert said. “Having challenges at a younger age taught me how to keep on fighting and never give up.”
“He’s a tremendous player and an even better young man,” Otzelberger said.
