Before heading to the Maui Invitational, Iowa State men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger was curious to see how his team would handle the inevitable adversity that would meet the fifth-ranked Cyclones.
They had gone unchecked by their first three opponents, but third-ranked Auburn provided that stiff test on Monday night in a battle of top-five ranked teams in the quarterfinals of the Maui Invitational.
Otzelberger will now have to see how his Cyclones will respond to their first loss.
Iowa State saw its 18-point lead evaporate early in the second half. It was a back-and-forth battle for the remainder of the game, with the Tigers emerging on top, thanks to a last-second tip-in basket by Johni Broome.
Iowa State’s heave at the buzzer was no good and the Tigers won, 83-81.
“Credit to Auburn, especially in the second half,” Otzelberger said. “They did a great job. They were the more physical team, especially in the second half and that showed in a lot of areas, specifically on the glass and their ability to get to the offensive glass. Certainly, that last play is a microcosm of that.
“Credit to them, they played well. Thought our guys had tremendous fight, especially in the first half, just didn’t finish the way we liked, but we’ll bounce back and be better for it.”
Keshon Gilbert hit a pair of free throws to give the Cyclones an 81-79 lead with 51 seconds left in the game.
Auburn answered back when Miles Kelly cut to the basket and finished a pass from Dylan Cardwell. The Cyclones turned it over on the next possession and Auburn elected to hold the ball for the final shot without a timeout.
Denver Jones drove in for a layup that missed, but Broome was there for the follow-up. The game-winning shot came with 1.9 seconds on the clock.
Gilbert led Iowa State with 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
“Gilbert played great, we hit him in space going with his right hand,” said Otzelberger of the Cyclones’ intentions for their final possession that resulted in a turnover. “Try to create contact, get into the paint, get to the rim, and just unfortunate it didn’t go our way.”
Curtis Jones had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists. Dishon Jackson finished with 13 points and two steals. Milan Momcilovic had 12 points and four rebounds.
For Auburn, Broome finished with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, with 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Chad Baker-Mazara returned from a first-half injury and ignited the Tigers with 18 points. Kelly and Jones each had 12 points, while Tahaad Pettiford chipped in 14 points off the bench.
The Tigers opened the second half with a 20-4 run that was capped off by Kelly’s game-tying three-pointer with 13:51 left in the game.
“We just can’t let that happen,” Jones said of the Tigers’ run.
Iowa State, which shot the ball well in the first half, initially struggled after halftime. The Cyclones had only two made shots in the first seven minutes of the second half.
“They denied a lot more passes,” Otzelberger said of Auburn’s second-half effort. “They were a lot more physical guarding the ball. More aggressive with their ball screen coverage. Everything they did, they ramped up their intensity and their aggressiveness. Like Curtis mentioned, it was the start of their second half, when you’re up the way we were, you want to try and finish. They came out with better energy, more aggressiveness, better ball pressure and they put us on our heels.”
Auburn didn’t take its first lead until the 4:01 mark after a pair of Denver Jones free throws made it 75-73. He followed up with a jumper to make it a four-point game, the Tigers’ largest lead of the game.
After a few empty possessions by both teams, Gilbert was fouled hard on a layup attempt. The foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 after review. Gilbert hit both free throws and received the ball once again on the ensuing possession, attacking the basket to tie it up, with 1:53 remaining.
Iowa State had a 49-33 halftime lead.
The Cyclones led by as many as 18 points after a Joshua Jefferson free throw topped off a 21-6 Iowa State run with 4:18 left in the first half.
Iowa State came firing out of the opening tip, with its defense frustrating the Tigers. The Cyclones’ offense started hot and shot 58.1% in the first half.
Iowa State shot just 7-of-22 (31.8%) in the second half, while Auburn shot 18-of-33 (54.5%) after halftime in its comeback effort.
The Cyclones will face the loser of North Carolina-Dayton on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU).
“There’s a lot of disappointment in the locker room after the game, which you can imagine,” Otzelberger said. “We told our guys, you use that feeling you have now, you bottle it up, and then you turn it into a positive. You come to a great tournament like this, you play these great programs, and you know something like that can happen and you need to learn from it.”
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: No. 3 Auburn rallies to beat No. 5 Iowa State in Maui Invitational