No. 23 Iowa State stifles North Dakota despite cold shooting

Caleb Grill scored 16 points and aided a defensive effort that forced 20 turnovers to boost No. 23 Iowa State to a 63-44 victory against visiting North Dakota on Wednesday night in Ames, Iowa.

A 15-5 run to open the second half propelled Iowa State (6-1), which has won each of its four home games this season.

Tamin Lipsey scored 11 points and dished four assists to go with four steals, one more than Grill. Robert Jones added 10 points, Demarion Watson grabbed 10 rebounds and Jaz Kunc had six assists with five rebounds.

Iowa State shot 42.1 percent compared to 35.4 percent for North Dakota, which did not produce a double-figure scorer and trailed by as many as 20 points.

Matt Norman led the Hawks with nine points and seven rebounds, while A’Jahni Levias scored eight points. Brian Mathews added six rebounds.

Nine North Dakota players had at least one turnover.

Pressure defense from the Cyclones ultimately flustered North Dakota (5-4). A key moment came with 16 minutes remaining, when Lipsey moved in front of a Tsotne Tsartsidze pass and pushed the ball up the floor to Grill, who converted a fast-break dunk.

Both schools struggled to come untracked in the first half. The Cyclones took a 26-24 lead into the break despite 32.4 percent shooting, including a 28.6 percent effort from 3-point range (2-for-7).

North Dakota grabbed a 20-19 advantage on a Mitchell Sueker three-point play with 5:12 to go until halftime. Although the Hawks went scoreless for the next 2:40, Iowa State couldn’t capitalize, managing a mere three points over the same span.

The Hawks shot 41.7 in the first 20 minutes but went 3-for-11 from long range.

Grill, Lipsey and Jones each had six points to lead all scorers at the half.

–Field Level Media