AMES, Iowa (AP) — Jaren Holmes scored 14 points and Aljaz Kunc added 12 on Sunday as No. 23 Iowa State handed St. John's its first loss of the season 71-60.
Kunc also contributed eight rebounds and three assists for the Cyclones (7-1).
Posh Alexander led St. John's (8-1) with 14 points.
Iowa State turned the tables on the full-court pressing Red Storm, forcing 20 turnovers and holding St. John's to 36% shooting.
The Cyclones opened the game with a 17-2 run, capped off by a Gabe Kalscheur 3-pointer at the 10:47 mark of the first half.
In the opening 9 minutes, St. John's went 0 for 8 shooting and committed nine turnovers. Rafael Pinzon hit a 3-pointer for the Red Storm's first basket, with 9:54 left in the half.
The Cyclones led 33-22 at the break. St. John's went 6 for 23 shooting (26.1%) in the first 20 minutes.
A 3-pointer from Holmes gave Iowa State a 44-29 margin early in the second half. Osun Osunniyi's dunk made it 47-30 with 13 minutes remaining.
The game was part of the Big12/Big East Battle.
BIG PICTURE
Iowa State will likely remain in the top 25 after making its season debut this week. St. John's was playing its first game outside of New York City and began this weekend as one of just 15 unbeaten teams nationally.
UP NEXT
St. John's opens Big East play Wednesday with a home game against DePaul.
Iowa State travels to rival Iowa for a Thursday showdown that will air of FS1.
___
AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
