Iowa State Falls In Last Seconds At Oklahoma St., 69-67

STATS | NOTES | HIGHLIGHTS

STILLWATER, Okla. – Iowa State and Oklahoma State contested a back-and-forth second half Tuesday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena. After seven lead changes and four ties in the second period, the Cowboys (12-12 overall, 5-6 Big 12) got a jumper from LeBryan Nash with 0:04.6 seconds to go to defeat the Cyclones (17-7 overall, 7-4 Big 12), 69-67.

Chris Allen drove the length of the court for the final shot, but Nash blocked it to end the game.

"We tried to come off a screen to tie it or win it," Allen said. "Coach gave me the confidence in the final shot and I couldn't come up with it. I saw an opening, but Nash made a great play. Oklahoma State played a great game. They were hitting tough shots all night. This is a tough loss and it didn't work out for us tonight."

Iowa State had to fight to even make it a close contest at the end. The Cyclones looked finished, down 63-55 after Keiton Page converted a bucket and a free throw on a Royce White foul with 4:40 to go. White and Allen brought Iowa State back into the game as a trio of Allen 3-pointers and a White bucket made it 67-65 with 2:46 to go. White tied it at 67-67 up with two clutch free throws with 39 seconds remaining.

However, the Cowboys drained the clock for a late shot as Nash nailed a 17-footer just to the left of the free throw line. Out of a timeout, Iowa State put the ball in Allen’s hands but Nash rejected his driving attempt and sent OSU home victorious.

Allen posted one of his best games in a Cyclone uniform, recording 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting, including a career-high six 3-pointers. White was also key to the Iowa State effort, recording his seventh double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds along with seven assists.

After Iowa State took a slender 32-31 lead into the second half, the Cyclones scored the first five points of the second half on a Scott Christopherson 3-pointer and a Melvin Ejim bucket to make it 37-31. The Cowboys fought back, going on a 13-2 run capped off by a Marek Soucek 3-ball to give OSU a 44-39 advantage.

The Cyclones responded by taking the next seven points, capped by a White dunk to retake the lead, 46-44. After five consecutive OSU points swung the momentum, Allen hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Iowa State out front again 52-49. Then the Cowboys make a critical 14-3 run capped off by the Page three-point play to set up the game’s dramatic ending.

Markel Brown led four Cowboys in double-figures with 19 points. Nash posted 18 points, 14 in the first half, while being joined by Page (13) and Brian Williams (10) in double-digits. Michael Cobbins posted a game-high 14 rebounds for OSU, 10 coming in the first stanza.

The opening segment of the game belonged to the Cyclones as the visitors sprinted out to a 9-1 lead capped off by a Ejim lay in that forced Travis Ford and OSU into a quick timeout.

The Cowboys rebuilt and eventually took its first lead of the game at the 11:00 mark on a Nash 3-pointer that made it 16-13 in favor of Oklahoma State. The Cowboys went on a 23-8 run and reached its biggest lead of the half at 24-17 on pair of free throws by Nash.

Iowa State got back into the game, going on a 12-3 run over three minutes which was capped off by a Allen 3-pointer to give Iowa State the lead at 29-27. After a quick Nash basket, Tyrus McGee put the Cyclones ahead on driving bucket and a foul, but was given a technical foul for his reaction to the bucket. After Page drained the technical foul free throws, McGee converted his own free throw to give the Cyclones the 32-31 halftime advantage.

Iowa State returns home for a Saturday home game against Texas A&M. Tip is slated for 3 p.m. CST and the game will be carried by the Big 12 Network.