Curtis Jones came off the bench to score 22 points to pace No. 10 Iowa State (20-5, 10-4 Big 12) to an 81-70 victory over Cincinnati (15-10, 5-9 Big 12) Saturday afternoon in Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones were down by three points midway through second half before taking control with a 10-run to reach 20 wins for the third time in the T.J. Otzelberger era.

Jones notched his 10th 20+ scoring game of the season and made all 12 of his free-throw attempts to help the Cyclones connect on 26-of-30 (86.7 pct.) at the charity stripe for the game. Jones is one of nine Cyclones in school history to go perfect from the foul line with 12 or more attempts.

Joshua Jefferson added 13 points and a team-high seven boards and Milan Momcilovic scored 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Tamin Lipsey chipped in with 11 points and had four steals.

Jizzle James led all players with 25 points for the Bearcats. ISU held a 31-9 advantage in bench points and is now 17-0 on the season when doing so.

How it Happened
It was an efficient and clean start on both ends through the first eight minutes of the contest. The Cyclones made 8-of-their-first-11 shots, including two treys from Lipsey, to take a 21-15 lead.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati started the game at 6-of-10 from the field and both teams had zero turnovers.

ISU briefly took a 12-point lead behind Jones, who made his first three shots from the floor, but the Bearcats bounced back with an 8-0 run with back-to-back jumpers from James to cut the lead to 27-23 with 7:38 remaining in the first half.

James remained hot, scoring 17 first-half points to knot the score at 39-39 at the break. ISU made just three field goals in the final 10 minutes. Jones led the Cyclones with 12 points in the opening period.

Five Cyclone turnovers in the early moments of the second period allowed the Bearcats to take a three-point lead at 48-45. Then UC went cold, and the Cyclones rattled off 10-straight points to retake the lead at 55-48 with 10:38 left. Keshon Gilbert and Momcilovic each hit 3-pointers in the flurry to get the crowd back into the game.

A key moment in the game occurred after Josh Reed buried a 3-pointer to trim the Cyclone lead to 63-59 with 7:07 left. UC head coach Wes Miller then got a technical and Jones hit both charity shots. Momcilovic quickly hit a 3-pointer followed by a Lipsey steal and lay-in, and suddenly ISU held a 70-59 lead.

The Bearcats never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

Key Performer
Brandton Chatfield was sensational from off the bench, tallying nine points on 3-of-4 shooting and grabbing six boards. His presence in the last portion of the first half and early in the second half allowed ISU to stay in the game. Five of his six boards were on the offensive end resulting in three second-chance baskets. He also connected on all three of his free-throw attempts.

Up Next
Iowa State plays host to Colorado on Tuesday (Feb. 18). Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on ESPN+.