Jamal Mashburn calls out Iowa State for running up score despite tournament format, prize money

The Players Era Festival includes 18 teams this season. The winning team walks away with $2 million. Naturally, teams are doing whatever it takes to win the tournament, even if it requires participating in some unsportsmanlike activities.

On Tuesday, Iowa State ran up the score against Creighton, defeating the Bluejays in a 78-60 blowout. Behind head-to-head matchups, point differential plays the largest role in the event’s seeding.

Thus, Creighton boosted its chances of appearing in the championship game by running up the score at the end of the contest. While TNT analyst and former Kentucky basketball player Jamal Mashburn understands Iowa State’s motive, he doesn’t agree with the Cyclones’ actions.

“I get it. I get the math, but I also just want the victory. You know what I mean?” Mashburn said. “I don’t care if you win by one or you win by 20. Now, if you’re blowing somebody out that’s a different story.

“As a player, you just want to get the victory. It doesn’t really matter to me, the margin at the end of the day. You just want to win. I don’t think a lot of guys are thinking about the $2 million when they’re on that court.”

In fairness, Iowa State possessed a substantial lead most of the game. At halftime, the Cyclones had already built up a 14-point advantage and simply didn’t allow the Bluejays to carve into it in the second half.

It was an impressive showing for the Cyclones, who were without star guard Tamin Lipsey due to an injury. Four of Iowa State’s five starters scored double figures.

Iowa State freshman Killyan Toure led all scorers with 20 points. He shot 8-14 from the field and notched four rebounds as well. Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson trailed close behind with 18 points of his own, while logging 10 boards.

As usual, Iowa State’s defense was stellar. The Cyclones held Creighton to 38% shooting from the floor. Additionally, they forced the Bluejays to commit 17 turnovers. Iowa State scored 19 points off Creighton’s turnovers.

“Killyan was magnificent today,” Iowa State head coach TJ Otzelberger said after the win. “Tamin’s done such a great job mentoring him, and Killyan continues to develop because he does hard work. Great to see him step up against a really good team, especially in Tamin’s absence.

“For our guys, the mental toughness, the habits that we do every day—we expect those habits to show up for us on the night of the game. Our guys are really committed to it and continue to do a great job. So, we just have to keep our focus where our focus needs to be.”