KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Milan Momcilovic scored 21 points, Joshua Jefferson had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and seventh-ranked Iowa State trounced turnover-prone Arizona State 91-42 on Wednesday in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament.
Blake Buchanan added 17 points and Tamin Lipsey had 11 for the fifth-seeded Cyclones (26-6), who beat the No. 14 seed Sun Devils (17-16) for the second time in less than a week while advancing to play No. 16 Texas Tech in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Santiago Trouet had 13 points for Arizona State, which was just 1 of 19 from 3-point range, turned the ball over 23 times and was called for three technical fouls in what might have been the final game with coach Bobby Hurley on the bench.
His contract expires soon and every indication has been that the Sun Devils are ready to move on.
Iowa State was so thoroughly dominant that it had built a 45-16 lead by halftime. The decisive blow was an 18-0 run late in the first half, when the Sun Devils earned two of their three technicals on a single disastrous trip down court.
The sequence began as Buchanan was hammered by the Sun Devils’ Pig Johnson on a drive to the basket, a foul that was upgraded to flagrant. Massamba Diop was barking at Buchanan as he stood up and was hit with the first technical, and Hurley quickly earned the second while arguing about the first.
Iowa State made five of the ensuing six free throws, Jamarion Batemon capped the seven-point trip down the floor with an easy bucket underneath and the Cyclones’ comfy 33-10 lead suddenly had become a 40-10 blowout with 2:40 left in the first half.
Up next
The Cyclones get a rematch with the fourth-seeded Red Raiders on Thursday. Texas Tech beat them 82-73 on Feb. 28.
The Sun Devils likely begin their coaching search, if they had not done so already.
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