Joshua Jefferson recorded 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals to lead No. 12-ranked Iowa State to a 76-56 victory over Cincinnati on Wednesday afternoon in the second round of the Big 12 tournament at Kansas City.
Tamin Lipsey scored 16 points and Milan Momcilovic added 13 for the fifth-seeded Cyclones (24-8). Dishon Jackson registered 10 points and a career-best 15 rebounds.
Jizzle James scored 17 points but was just 6-of-20 shooting for 13th-seeded Cincinnati (18-15). Josh Reed added 10 points for the Bearcats.
Iowa State, the fifth seed, will face fourth-seeded BYU (24-8) in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The No. 17-ranked Cougars have won eight straight games.
Lipsey exited with an apparent groin injury with 3:05 remaining.
The Cyclones shot 53.7 percent from the field, including 10 of 21 from 3-point range. Iowa State held a 41-23 rebounding advantage.
Cincinnati made 32.8 percent of its shots and was 9-of-30shooting from behind the arc.
The Bearcats trailed by nine at halftime before creeping within 43-40 on Dillon Mitchell’s dunk with 14:32 left in the game.
Iowa State answered with six straight points with Lipsey’s layup making it a nine-point margin with 12:56 remaining.
Cincinnati was back within 51-46 after a dunk by Aziz Bandaogo with 10:46 to play but Lipsey answered with a 3-pointer.
Jefferson’s jumper gave the Cyclones a 58-48 with advantage with 9:03 left.
Iowa State later led by 12 before Cincinnati moved within 65-56 on Reed’s 3-pointer with 4:18 remaining.
But the Cyclones answered with a game-ending 11 consecutive points. Jefferson scored consecutive baskets and Curtis Jones buried a 3-pointer to end the scoring.
Momcilovic scored 11 first-half points to help Iowa State lead 33-24 at the break. James had eight points in the half for the Bearcats.
Keshon Gilbert drilled a 3-pointer to cap an early 10-0 run as the Cyclones grabbed a 12-2 lead.
Cincinnati pulled within 14-11 on consecutive treys by Simas Lukosius and Reed before Iowa State ripped off eight straight points to push the margin to 11 just past the midway point of the half. The Cyclones’ largest lead of the half was 13.
