Milan Momcilovic scored 29 points on 8-of-12 shooting, and No. 9 Iowa State held on for an 84-71 win over Oklahoma State in a Big 12 Conference matchup Saturday afternoon in Stillwater, Okla.
Joshua Jefferson added 20 points for Iowa State (18-2, 5-2 Big 12), which won its second straight game after sustaining back-to-back losses. Tamin Lipsey added 13 points.
Kanye Clary scored 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting to lead Oklahoma State (14-6, 2-5). Jaylen Curry also finished with 19 points.
Iowa State won the rebound battle 36-27. Oklahoma State got 35 points from its bench players, compared with three points from Iowa State’s bench.
Oklahoma State outscored Iowa State 50-33 in the second half but could not overcome a 51-21 halftime deficit.
The Cowboys went on an 8-0 run to chip into the Cyclones’ lead in the second half. Isaiah Coleman made a layup, Anthony Roy made one free throw, Clary hit a jump shot and Ryan Crotty knocked down a 3-pointer to bring Oklahoma State within 56-37 with 11:25 left.
The Cowboys pulled within 10 points with 1:41 to go when Clary made another 3-pointer.
Iowa State was dominating while building a 30-point first-half lead as the Cyclones stormed to an 11-2 advantage to start the game. Jefferson, Killyan Toure and Momcilovic each hit 3-pointers, and Blake Buchanan made a layup to punctuate the run.
Vyctorius Miller made a pair of free throws for Oklahoma State to cut the deficit to 11-4, and then the Cyclones went on another run. They scored the next 12 points in a row to seize a 23-4 advantage with 13:22 to go before the break.
Momcilovic converted a three-point play and made a jump shot to start the run. Jefferson followed with a 3-pointer, and Momcilovic continued his hot stretch as he converted a four-point play with a 3-pointer and a free throw to put the Cyclones on top by 19.
Iowa State increased its lead to as many as 30 points in the final minute of the first half. Momcilovic sank a pair of free throws to make it 51-21 with 36 seconds to go.
