The No. 16 Cyclones dropped their season-opening exhibition 71-58 to No. 23 Creighton, shooting a tough 58% from the free throw line and 0% from three.
It was the first time Iowa State opened its season with an exhibition since 2017-18, when it beat Emporia State 77-68 in Ames. The Cyclones will play one more exhibition when they take on Northwestern at home.
Senior forward Joshua Jefferson was one of the few bright spots offensively with an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double in 32 minutes of play, leading the Cyclones in both categories.
Jefferson was the lone Cyclone named to the preseason All-Big 12 team, and he played that way against the Bluejays. Despite four turnovers, a lot of the offense relied on him providing space on the floor with multiple defenders constantly gravitating towards him.
The first half of play is where Iowa State dug itself into a hole. The Cyclones got out to a fast start with a 6-0 lead, but that was quickly diminished. Following was junior forward Milan Momcilovic’s jumper that made it 8-4 in favor of the Cyclones. Creighton went on a 23-0 run to build a 19 point lead.
Iowa State and Creighton then traded buckets the rest of the first half, but the Cyclones ultimately trailed by 23 at the break. The first half saw 9-27 shooting from the field and 0-8 from behind the arc for Iowa State.
The Bluejays had a lot more success in the first half, including eight made threes, matching the number of attempts the Cyclones had. Senior guard Nik Graves shot 3-4 from deep by himself in the first half.
The second half saw a slight boost in shooting for Iowa State, going 13-34 and seeing made baskets by six different players.
Junior forward and Virginia transfer Blake Buchanan made his impact felt in the second half, going 4-5 from the field for all eight of his points.
A few other newcomers that made an impact were senior guard Dominick Nelson and freshman guard Killyan Toure. Nelson finished with nine points, and Toure had seven points and four rebounds.
Someone who struggled to find a rhythm for the Cyclones was Momcilovic, who went a weak 4-14 from the field and 0-7 from three, an area where he is a 37.7% shooter from in his career.
Momcilovic was not the only Cyclone who struggled from deep. The entire team had a lid on the basket as they went 0-14 as a collective. The Bluejays struggled in that department in the second half as well, going 1-12.
The other area that really hindered the Cyclones was the free-throw line. Iowa State shot just above 75% from there a year ago, but went 14-24, or 56.3%, from there in the exhibition.
Iowa State will have one more opportunity to work out its kinks before games start counting towards its actual record with a home matchup against Northwestern on Oct. 26. That game will be live-streamed on ESPN+.
