Instacap: Oklahoma State Thwarted by Iowa State 92-83

Iowa State downed Oklahoma State 92-83 on Thursday morning in Hilton South Kansas City in the first game for both in the Big 12 Tournament. The Cyclones shot 50 percent from 3-point range and Monte Morris nearly notched a triple double with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. Jawun Evans had 29-4-4 and Jeffrey Carroll had 21-7, but it was not nearly enough to overcome the Cyclones’ hot shooting.

OSU (again) dug itself a hole early on against Iowa State in the first of four games in Kansas City on Thursday. The Pokes went down 29-19 just 10 minutes into the game as Iowa State rained threes like its corn crops depended on them. The lead grew slightly from there.

But after going five for its first nine from three-point range, the Cyclones went cold, missed seven of their next eight and finished the first half on a 2-for-13 block of ice.

OSU took advantage.

The Cowboys hit four buckets and four free throws in the last six minutes of half No. 1 to cut a 12-point deficit to three going into the locker rooms. Brad Underwood pumped his fist, and OSU had once again climbed out of its own mess to make a game of it against the team that tied for second in Big 12 play.

Evans was terrific in the first half as he had a 10-3-2- line to go with just one turnover in 18 minutes. Jeffrey Carroll hit some tough shots to score nine points and Leyton Hammonds had six points and six boards for the good guys.

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OSU shot just 36 percent overall and 22 percent from three in the first 20 minutes but was saved because it beat ISU on the offensive glass 9-3 (looking at you, Hammonds and Mitchell Solomon).

The start of the second half was nearly a carbon copy of the first. ISU came out blzing, but this time they never looked back. The Cyclones hit seven of the eight 3-pointers they took and 64 percent overall in the second half (they shot 54 percent from the field for the entire game).

To recap.

• ISU first nine threes: 4-8
• ISU next seven: 1-8
• ISU final eight: 7-8

It all added up to a  50 percent night from deep. This is just ISU’s fourth 50 percent or better performance all year from 3-point range. Two have come against the Pokes … in the last 10 days. It was an easy close from one of the best teams in the conference.

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OSU led for just 2:06 of the game and all of that came at the beginning of the first half. They took 21 (!) more shots than Iowa State, won the turnover battle (11-5) and won the offensive rebounding battle 19-6. And they never had a chance. One reason? They missed 21 layups and tip-ins (not a typo).

The other reason is that the Cowboys are a defensive liability right now — they gave up 274 points to Iowa State this season — and I’m not sure anyone knows what to do about it.

They tried a little of everything on Thursday. Morris was (and is) not guardable, but too many of the Cyclones’ 24 three-pointers were wide open with nobody in the vicinity. Iowa State scored 1.24 points per possession (this would rank No. 1 in the country).

OSU’s next game will be in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.