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AMES, Iowa — For a moment midway through the first half, Utah controlled a 5-point lead over No. 3 Iowa State on the road.
But it was the closest the Utes ever got to sniffing a win Tuesday night.
Iowa State used a 17-1 run that coincided with a lockdown defense that forced seven turnovers in as many minutes to pull away for a 38-25 lead at the halftime break.
Utah made an attempt to get back into the game in the second half and cut Iowa State's one-time 13-point lead down to 6, but fouls and turnovers started to get the best of Utah, and Iowa State pulled away for a 82-59 win at Hilton Coliseum.
Mike Sharavjamts, Zach Keller and Lawson Lovering all had four fouls with 12:20 left in the game, and Utah (8-6, 0-3 Big 12) had 16 turnovers at the time to lead to 23 points on the other end for Iowa State. The Utes finished with 18 turnovers.
Iowa State (13-1, 3-0 Big 12) looked like the No. 3 team in the country, while Utah looked like a team picked last in the Big 12.
Utah had its moments in the first half where it looked like a team that could go toe-to-toe with Iowa State. But once the home team faced a 5-point deficit, it was like a switch was flipped and the Cyclones became inevitable.
And Utah had no answer.
Curtis Jones led Iowa State with 23 points, six assists and five rebounds; while Tamin Lipsey added 20 points and seven rebounds, Joshua Jefferson contributed 17 points and seven rebounds, and Keshon Gilbert finished with 15 points and five rebounds in the win.
Though Utah struggled to get shots to fall at a consistent rate against Iowa State's defense — including shooting just 36% from the field — the Utes finally got Gabe Madsen scoring again after a recent scoring drought.
Madsen finished the night with 20 points — including making four 3-pointers — four assists and three assists to lead the Utes.
Though Madsen got back in the scoring column, few on his team followed.
Miro Little was the only other Utah player to score in double figures, finishing with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists.
