After squandering an 18-point lead and falling in the opening round of the Maui Invitational, No. 5 Iowa State will look to tighten defensively Tuesday night when it takes on Dayton in the consolation round.
Dayton (5-1) can tell a similar tale, as it surrendered a 21-point lead in a 92-90 defeat to No. 12 North Carolina.
For Iowa State (3-1), everything was going according to plan in the first half on Monday before it all came apart in an 83-81 loss to No. 4 Auburn.
The Cyclones, who entered the tournament with the top scoring defense in Division I, used their suffocating on-ball presence to disrupt the Tigers’ ball movement and limit their open shots as they built an 18-point lead.
But everything changed after intermission, as Auburn scored 50 points while shooting 54.5 percent from the floor.
“At the start of the second half, they were the more aggressive team,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said, mentioning the Tigers’ 11-0 edge in second-chance points.
The Cyclones had a chance to win as they had the ball in a tie game in the closing seconds. But as Keshon Gilbert drove to the top of the key while trying to split defenders, he lost possession and the Tigers’ Johni Broome recovered the loose ball.
At the other end of the floor, Broome tipped in the winning basket with 1.2 seconds left.
On a night in which his minutes were limited by foul trouble, Gilbert had played brilliantly to that point, scoring 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
Iowa State also received 14 points off the bench from Curtis Jones, 13 from Dishon Jackson and 12 from Milan Momcilovic.
On Tuesday, both teams will look to solve their second-half woes.
“They got 59 points in the second half,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said of the Tar Heels. “We weren’t able to keep them off the free-throw line. They were able to get a rhythm.”
Down the stretch, Dayton had no answer for North Carolina’s backcourt. RJ Davis scored 20 of his 30 points in the second half and Seth Trimble collected 27 points and 10 rebounds.
Less than three minutes into the second half, Dayton had its biggest lead of the game, 56-35, before North Carolina made a spirited rally.
Dayton placed six players in double figures, led by Nate Santos (15 points) and Amael L’Etang (13 points). Enoch Cheeks had 11 points and eight rebounds while Posh Alexander contributed 11 points and six assists.
The Flyers’ defense, however, surrendered 59.4 percent shooting by North Carolina in the second half and 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) accuracy from deep.
“We got a quick turnaround,” Grant said. “We’ve gotta be able to quickly regroup, be resilient, be ready to go.”
Iowa State hopes to find fuel from the disappointing result in the opening round.
“We’ll use the feeling that we have, the frustration and the disappointment that we have to our advantage and bounce back (on Tuesday) and play great,” Otzelberger said.
