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    • Cyclones fall to Auburn in Maui Invitational
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    Cyclones fall to Auburn in Maui Invitational

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    Before heading to the Maui Invitational, Iowa State men’s basketball coach TJ Otzelberger was curious to see how his team would handle the inevitable adversity the fifth-ranked Cyclones would face.

    They weren’t contained by their first three opponents, but third-ranked Auburn provided that tough test Monday night in a battle of the top five ranked teams in the quarterfinals of the Maui Invitational.

    Otzelberger will now have to wait and 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 coming out on top thanks to a last-second tip-in basket from Johni Broome.

    Iowa State’s pressure at the buzzer was off and the Tigers won 83-81.

    “Thanks 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 it showed in a lot of areas, especially on the glass and their ability to get to the offensive glass. Certainly, that last play is a microcosm of it.

    “Thanks to them, they played well. I thought our guys had a great fight, especially in the first half. They just didn’t finish the way we wanted, but we’ll come back and get better from it.”

    Keshon Gilbert hit a pair of free throws to give the Cyclones an 81-79 lead with 51 seconds left.

    Auburn answered back when Miles Kelly went to the basket and finished off a Dylan Cardwell pass. 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 missed layup, but Broome was there for the follow-up. The 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 with his right hand in space,” Otzelberger said of the Cyclones’ intentions for their final possession that resulted in a turnover. “Trying to make contact, get in the paint, get to the rim, but it’s a shame 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-for-13 shooting, with 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Chad Baker-Mazara returned from injury in the first half and ignited the Tigers with 18 points. Kelly and Jones each had 12 points, while Tahaad Pettiford scored 14 points off the bench.

    The Tigers opened the second half on a 20-4 run that was capped off by Kelly’s 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 fired just two shots in the first seven minutes of the second half.

    “They denied a lot more passes,” Otzelberger said of Auburn’s second-half attempt. “They were much more physical in guarding the ball. More aggressive with their ball screen coverage. Everything they did, they stepped up their intensity and aggressiveness. Like Curtis said, it was the start of their second half, if you’re awake. Like We were, you want to try to finish. They came out with better energy, more aggressiveness and 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 free throws from Denver Jones made it 75-73. He followed with a jumper to make it a four-point game, the Tigers’ largest lead of the game.

    After a few empty possessions from both teams, Gilbert was fouled hard on a layup attempt. The foul was upgraded to Flagrant 1 after review. Gilbert hit both free throws and received the ball again on the ensuing possession, attacking the basket to tie the game with 1:53 remaining.

    Iowa State had a 49-33 lead at halftime.

    The Cyclones led by as many as 18 points after a Joshua Jefferson free throw capped a 21-6 Iowa State run with 4:18 left in the first half.

    Iowa State fired from the opening tip, with the defense frustrating the Tigers. The Cyclones’ offense started hot, shooting 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 attempt.

    The Cyclones will face the loser of North Carolina-Dayton on Tuesday at 7:30 PM (ESPNU).

    “There’s a lot of disappointment in the locker room after the game, you can imagine that,” Otzelberger said. “We told our guys: take that feeling you have right now, bottle it up and turn it into something positive. You come to a great tournament like this, you play great programs and you know that something like this is possible.” happen and you have to learn from that.”

    Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at [email protected]. To follow it on Twitter @erapay5.

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