I-State wins 2nd straight Big 12 crown
They did it again.
Iowa State rallied from a double-digit deficit for the fifth game in a row - including three times at the Big 12 tournament - to beat Kansas, 70-66, in Saturday evening's Big 12 championship game at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
The Cyclones trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half before storming back to win their second straight conference tournament championship and the third in school history since the formation of the Big 12. It was ISU's second win over the Jayhawks in three meetings this year and its second straight at the conference tournament. I-State beat KU in the semifinals a year ago.
Iowa State will take a 25-8 record into the NCAA tournament. The Cyclones will learn their tourney seed, game site and opening opponent along with the rest of the Division I college basketball world on Sunday. Most projections have I-State as a No. 3 seed. ISU will be going to the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight year, a first in school history.
Kansas led the Cyclones, 40-23, less than 30 seconds into the second half of Saturday's Big 12 title game. And then, Iowa State does what it does.
ISU used a quick 8-0 run to immediately change the feel of the game, pulling within nine at 40-31 on a Georges Niang jumper and forcing a KU timeout with 17:52 to play. The Cyclones kept the pressure on and cut the margin to two at 42-40 on a Naz Long layup at the 14:50 mark, compelling Kansas to use yet another timeout. At that point, ISU's run was 17-2.
It took awhile for Iowa State draw even but it did, on a Bryce Dejean-Jones steal and dunk with exactly eight minutes left in the game that knotted the score at 51-51. The Cyclones then got back-to-back drives to the rim and finishes by Dejean-Jones and Abdel Nader for a 55-51 lead with 6:22 to go. It was Dejean-Jones again with just under six minutes to go to make it 57-51 and Iowa State took its largest lead at 59-52 on a Nader layup with 5:27 left in the game.
Unable to contain Iowa State man-up, Kansas went to a junk zone (3-2) defense and got itself back in the game. Monte Morris penetrated the zone for a short jumper and a 61-54 Cyclone lead with 4:42 to play. That was ISU's last field goal in the game. The zone puzzled I-State on several empty possessions that followed and that allowed Kansas to rally for a 63-63 tie on a Wayne Selden three-point play with 1:29 left in the game.
Nader made two free throws with 48 seconds left to push Iowa State back ahead for good at 65-63. Morris made one-of-two free throws for a 66-63 Cyclone lead at the 24-second mark and after another ISU defensive stop, Dustin Hogue hit a pair of free throws with nine seconds left for a 68-63 lead. Kansas' Brennan Greene responded by nailing a long three to make it 68-66. Long was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play and made two free throws to clinch the win for Iowa State.
Both teams labored offensively for much of the first half with Kansas shaking the doldrums first. The Jayhawks went on a 7-0 run for a 21-13 lead and later made it nine at 25-16. KU had its first double-digit lead at 32-20 and had a 37-23 lead at the half.
Niang led Iowa State with 19 points, finishing off his Most Outstanding Player Award performance for the conference tournament. Nader came off the bench to score 13 points and ISU had a 21-12 edge in bench scoring against the supposedly deeper Jayhawks. Jameel McKay and Morris each scored 11 and Morris was also named to the all-tournament team along with Niang.
Selden had 25 points to lead all scorers and Frank Mason scored 13 for Kansas. Those two combined for 38 of the Jayhawks' 66 points with nobody else scoring more than seven.
Iowa State was +3 in rebounding overall in the game and mostly kept Kansas off the offensive glass; the Jayhawks claimed only 7-of-34 missed shots on their offensive end. ISU committed only six turnovers while KU had thirteen.