A dunk from Terrence Lewis with eight seconds left should have delivered an Iowa State victory, but a defensive breakdown on the ensuing play put a wrap on the Cyclones’ season. Isaac Likekele sprinted the length of the floor with seconds to go and beat the defense with a layup to hand eighth-seeded Oklahoma State the victory.
The final sequence put an end to a forgettable campaign for ninth-seeded Iowa State (12-20), which lost 20 games for the first time since the 1976 season. The Cyclones dropped six of their final seven games.
Prentiss Nixon put the Cyclones on his back for the final time on Wednesday night, scoring 25 points on 11-of-21 shooting and adding four assists and three rebounds. Michael Jacobson chipped in with 13 points and six rebounds in his last game in an I-State uniform. Tre Jackson got off to a fast start with eight first-half points and would finish with 10.
As a team, ISU shot a shade under 46 percent and was a respectable 7-of-20 from 3-point territory. It also owned a 35-29 edge on the boards and 18-2 advantage in second-chance points. However, turnovers continued to be a factor for a Cyclone team minus Tyrese Haliburton and Rasir Bolton. ISU committed 15, which led to 21 Cowboy points.
With the Sprint Center crowd in their corner, the Cyclones got a jumper from George Conditt with 13:20 to play gave the Cyclones their biggest lead of the game, 52-42. It also capped a 12-4 run.
Oklahoma State used an 8-0 flurry over a span of nearly four minutes, just past the midway point of the second half, to get back into it and cut the Cyclone lead to one. ISU committed four turnovers during a span of five minutes as the Cowboys crawled back.
Nixon finally ended a nearly five-minute run of futility with a jumper to give ISU a 63-60 lead with 3:43 to play. After clawing to within one, OSU endured a scoring slump of nearly three minutes.
Likekele buried two free throws to give Oklahoma State back the lead, 70-69. . Iowa State calls timeout with 15.9 seconds remaining. The Cowboys managed to go ahead despite a field goal-less streak of more than five minutes and having missed five straight shots.
Neither side struck a decisive blow throughout much of the first half. Kalib Boone’s jumper with 12:18 left gave OSU a 17-13 lead, but that was the largest for both teams.
Nixon and ISU changed that with a 11-2 run to open up a five-point lead with under nine minutes remaining in the half. The senior point guard knocked down three shots during the run for the Cyclones.
The Cowboys answered with seven straight points to retake a lead they wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the half.
OSU improved to 18-14 and advanced to face Kansas tomorrow afternoon in a game that will take place in front of a nearly-empty Sprint Center.
