Instant Recap: Oklahoma State falls to Iowa State in Shootout

On an emotional senior night in Ames, the Cowboys (20-10, 9-8 in the Big 12) lost a shootout to the Cyclones, 86-83. Iowa State (20-9, 12-5 in the Big 12), with six seniors graduating, played an inspired final game at Hilton Coliseum, hitting 15 3-pointers. Matt Thomas, Monte Morris, and Naz Mitrou-Long combined for 54 points for the Cyclones, and the 6-foot-5 tank Deonte Burton added 20 points and 5 rebounds as they made it six straight wins in the Big 12.

Oklahoma State was led by Jawun Evans, who was absolutely special yet again down the stretch and finished with 29 points, 6 assists, and 4 boards. Leyton Hammonds (19 points), Phil Forte (12 points on 4-8 shooting) and Jeffrey Carroll (7 points, 10 boards) also put in work for the Pokes. The teams shot remarkably similar: Oklahoma finished 29-of-59 from the field, and Iowa State finished 28-of-59 from the field.

First Half

The first half featured blistering shooting from both the Cyclones and the Pokes, especially from the 3. Iowa State made 10-of-19 (52.6%) and the Cowboys made 6-10 (60%) from downtown. The Cowboys were able to weather the Cyclones’ torrid offense by out-rebounding the Cyclones 21-10 on the boards, going into the break trailing just 40-39. The Cowboys also hit 5-6 from the charity stripe in the first half.

Leyton Hammonds continued his impressive stretch with 11 points before the break (3-3 from 3). Seriously, take a look at the wreckage the senior forward laid in his wake in his last five halves on the road-

Leyton Hammonds’ last 2.5 road games (TCU, K-State and tonight): 50 points, 9-16 from 3-point range.

— Mark Cooper (@mark_cooperjr) March 1, 2017

Jawun Evans had 7, and Carroll provided 4 points and 5 boards in the first half. Iowa State was led offensively by their trio of senior guards playing their final game at Hilton Coliseum, Matt Thomas (11 points, 4-of-6 from 3), Monte Morris (8 points) and Naz Mitrou-Long (12 points).

Second Half

The Cowboys hung close with the ‘Clones to start the second half until the 13 minute mark, when Brad Underwood picked up his first technical as Oklahoma State’s head coach. Undie lost it after Davon Dillard got called for a questionable over the back foul off a missed three. The Cyclones, spurred by senior Matt Thomas’ hot shooting, ripped off a run to push the lead to 61-51 in the crucial stretch.

However, the mentally tough Cowboys answered the Cyclone run by cutting the lead back to 4 at 66-62. Down the stretch, Jawun Evans carried the offense yet again, hitting ridiculous three after ridiculous three. However, the Cyclones escaped with the win, hitting some big free throws down the stretch.

The Cowboys, who saw their five game winning streak snapped, wrap up the regular season with a date with the number one-ranked Kansas Jayhawks (27-3, 15-2 in the Big 12) on Saturday at Gallagher-Iba, in a game that’s been sold out for about a week now. The Cowboys have won their last three against Kansas at GIA- get ready to get rowdy.