NEW YORK (AP) — Izaiah Brockington scored 23 of his 30 points in the second half, and Iowa State beat No. 25 Xavier 82-70 on Wednesday night in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
Tyrese Hunter added 19 points for Iowa State (5-0), Gabe Kalscheur scored 12 points and George Conditt had 10.
Jack Nunge scored 24 points off the bench for Xavier (4-1). Colby Jones had 11 points and Dwon Odom scored 10.
Iowa State trailed 39-38 at halftime but took control with a 24-9 run over the first 7:29 of the second half that included 13 points by Brockington. Xavier cut the deficit to five points, but didn't get closer as Iowa State closed out the game on a 16-9 run.
The Musketeers pounded the ball inside, scoring 28 of their 39 first-half points in the paint, but were flustered by Iowa State's defense in the second half.
BIG PICTURE
Iowa State: Big 12 Conference rivals likely won't look forward to the trip to Ames to face Iowa State's lockdown defense. Entering the game, the Cyclones had limited three of their first four opponents to 60 points or fewer, and they bottled up Xavier in the second half Wednesday.
Xavier: Eleven of the 16 players on the Musketeers' roster are seniors or juniors, and the experience showed as Xavier rallied from big deficits in each half. But Xavier has to make shots for its methodical approach to work, and the Musketeers went 9 of 25 from the field in the second half, including 1 of 9 from 3-point range.
UP NEXT
The winner of Wednesday night's game between No. 9 Memphis and Virginia Tech faces Iowa State on Friday, while the loser meets Xavier.
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