No. 5 Iowa State beats Colorado 99-71 to claim fifth place at the Maui Invitational

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Milan Momcilovic scored 18 of his career-high 24 points in the first half and No. 5 Iowa State pulled away from Colorado 99-71 on Wednesday to claim fifth place at the Maui Invitational.

Curtis Jones had 19 points, Keshon Gilbert scored 15 and Dishon Jackson, Joshua Jefferson and Tamin Lipsey added 10 apiece for the Cyclones (5-1). Jones and Jefferson grabbed six rebounds each, Gilbert had six assists and Lipsey contributed four assists and four steals.

Julian Hammond III scored 20 points and Andrej Jakimovski added 18 to lead the Buffaloes (5-2), who were held to 41.8% shooting from the field.

Iowa State held a 45-34 advantage at halftime. It led by as many as 33 late in the game.

Takeaways

Colorado: A day after they toppled two-time defending national champion UConn 73-72 in the tournament semifinals, the Buffaloes were blown out by their fellow Big 12 Conference member. The teams will meet again on Dec. 10 in Boulder, Colorado, and Feb. 18 in Ames, Iowa.

Iowa State: The Cyclones shot a blistering 60.3% from the field, including 44% from beyond the arc. Momcilovic made 9 of 13 field goals, including 6 of 9 3-pointers.

Key moment

Colorado led 22-20 after Elijah Malone’s layup with 8:45 left in the first half. However, Gilbert hit a jumper in the lane to ignite a 10-0 Iowa State run that was capped by a fast-break layup by Momcilovic that put his team ahead 30-22 with 5:25 to go until halftime.

Key stat

Iowa State scored 37 points off 18 Colorado turnovers and had 22 fast-break points to 6 for the Buffs.

Up next

Colorado begins a five-game homestand when it hosts Pacific on Monday, while Iowa State hosts Marquette on Wednesday.