After Iowa State beat a top-ranked team (Purdue) in the Associated Press Top 25 poll on Saturday as badly as anybody has ever beaten a top-ranked team in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, it was reasonable to wonder how the Cyclones would respond five days later against their in-state rival.
In the first half, they weren’t very good.
Broadly, they closed strongly.
So, all’s well that end
Joshua Jefferson took 14 shots, made seven of them and finished with 24 points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks in his latest performance that suggests if Duke’s Cameron Boozer is ruled ineligible for all National Player of Year awards, they might need to be mailed to him.
Jefferson has been great.
The 6-foot-9 senior, whose college career began at Saint Mary’s, is now averaging 18.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals in 30.0 minutes per game. He’s No. 2 in KenPom’s Player of the Year standings, well behind Boozer, but comfortably ahead of North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson, who is slotted third, and Alabama’s Labaron Philon, who is slotted fourth.
Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg is fifth.
Iowa State remains No. 4 in Friday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Michigan is still No. 1. Next up for the Cyclones is Sunday’s game against Eastern Illinois. Iowa State won’t play another currently ranked team until it meets Kansas on Jan. 13, and KenPom doesn’t project the Cyclones to be an underdog again this season until they play at BYU on Feb. 21.
