No. 24 Cyclones seniors shine in thrilling Hilton finale
No. 24 Cyclones seniors shine in thrilling Hilton finale:- Iowa State's seniors starred one more time at Hilton Coliseum.
The No. 24 Cyclones won their sixth straight game Tuesday night and closed out their Hilton Coliseum schedule with a 86-83 win over Oklahoma State.
Iowa State’s seniors celebrated their final home game with one more big performance. Guard Matt Thomas scored 25 points. Monte Morris flirted with a triple-double. He scored 12 points, handed out 11 assists and grabbed nine rebounds.
Naz Mitrou-Long finished with 17 points including a pair of free throws with 8.8 seconds left to help secure the win for Iowa State (20-9, 12-5 Big 12 Conference). Deonte Burton added 25 points.
Iowa State latest win didn’t come easy. The Cyclones took a 40-39 lead at the half and fought with Oklahoma State the rest of the way.
Oklahoma State scored the first seven points of the second half and built up a 45-40 lead.
Thomas got the second half scoring going when he connected on a 3-pointer to jump-start a 10-0 run that gave the Cyclones a 50-46 lead.
A basket by Morris later in the half started a 9-0 run that gave the Cyclones a 61-51 lead.
The Cyclones had trouble closing it. Juwan Evans pulled Oklahoma State to within 81-80 when he connected on three free throws with 13.8 seconds left.
Mitrou-Long responded with two foul shots. Iowa State then forced an Oklahoma State turnover on review and got a layup by Matt Thomas to push the lead to 85-80.
Evans hit a late 3-pointer with less than 2 seconds left. Donovan Jackson hit a free throw to hold off the Cowboys (20-10, 9-8).
Morris became Iowa State’s all-time steals leader in the first half. The guard passed Jeff Hornacek’s mark of 211.
Iowa State closes out the regular season with a trip to No. 10 West Virginia at 6 p.m. Friday.
Source:- http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/iowa-state/basketball-mens/2017/02/28/iowa-state-oklahoma-state-monte-morris-matt-thomas-naz-mitrou-long/98518922/
