Iowa State basketball rallies past Dayton behind Keshon Gilbert at Maui Invitational

Following heartbreaking loss, Iowa State completes comeback of own vs. Dayton

Keshon Gilbert scored 24 points to help the Iowa State men top Dayton at the Maui Invitational Tuesday night, 89-84. / Marco Garcia-Imagn Images

Keshon Gilbert scored six points in the final 44 seconds as the Iowa State men posted an 89-84 victory over Dayton Tuesday night at the Maui Invitational.

Roughly 24 hours after a heartbreaking loss to No. 4 Auburn, the fifth-ranked Cyclones (4-1) found themselves down by four at the break to the Flyers (5-2), who nearly upset No. 12 North Carolina late Monday night.

Unlike in the loss to the Tigers, Iowa State came out strong in the second half, using a 24-11 run to take a nine-point lead with under 12 minutes to go. Dayton, though, would not go away quietly, reclaiming the lead at 74-72 with just over five minutes left. 

Free throw shooting down the stretch helped the Cyclones prevail, as they went 10-for-10 over the final three-plus minutes of action. For the game, ISU shot 25 of 29 at the charity stripe, including a 10-for-12 showing by Gilbert. 

Gilbert finished with a game-high 24 points, adding three assists and three steals. Curtis Jones had 19 off the bench, knocking down three 3-pointers, while Dishon Jackson scored 12 and Milan Momcilovic had 10. 

Iowa State committed just seven turnovers for the game, helping off-set a 4-for-17 shooting performance from the 3-point line. 

Dayton’s top scorer was Malachi Smith, as he had 22. Enoch Cheeks added 16, Zed Key had 15 and Nate Santos 12. The Flyers were 7 of 18 from deep and 19 of 26 from the free throw stripe.

Iowa State will now meet Colorado on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. CT live on ESPN2 for fifth place. The Buffaloes knocked off two-time defending national champion Connecticut Tuesday, handing the Huskies their second straight loss to an unranked team.