KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Robert Jones led four Cyclones players in double figures with 18 points as No. 2 seed Iowa State defeated 10th-seeded Kansas State 76-57 Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship.
The Cyclones, ranked seventh in the nation, advanced to Friday’s second semifinal against the winner of Thursday’s later quarterfinal between Cincinnati and Baylor. Houston and Texas Tech will play in the first semifinal on Friday.
Iowa State (25-7) also got 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals from Trey King, 12 points from Keshon Gilbert and 11 from Tamin Lipsey. Jones added three blocks and three steals.
Tylor Perry led Kansas State (19-14) with 18 points. The Wildcats also got 13 points from Arthur Kaluma and 12 from Will McNair Jr.
Iowa State is the only remaining team in the tournament to have won it before.
The Cyclones have won five previous championships, the last coming in 2019. Baylor has lost in the title game three times, Texas Tech has lost twice there, and Houston and Cincinnati are in their first year in the conference.
Kansas trailed by eight early in the second half but cut the deficit to 40-39 after a 7-0 run. McNair scored the last five of those points.
Iowa State responded with a 14-2 run to seize control. The Wildcats had four turnovers during the burst and never pulled closer than 10 points again.
Kansas State averted disaster early when Perry, the team’s leading scorer at 15.4 points per game, picked up his second foul with 14:04 left in the first half. He went to the bench but eventually returned to lead all scorers with 13 points in the first half. Kansas State got little other production, however, and trailed 34-27.
Iowa State was more balanced. Jones led the Cyclones with 12 points, Lipsey had eight and King six.
Neither team shot the ball well early. Kansas State hit 31.8 percent from the floor in the first half and finished the game at 38.3 percent. The Cyclones shot 41.9 percent before the break, raised that to 52.2 percent in the second half and finished at 46.3 percent.
–David Smale, Field Level Media