Iowa State built a 21 point second half lead then held on late as Texas staged a furious rally as the 15th ranked Cyclones posted an 89-86 win. The Longhorns connected on 10 of 14 from three point range in the second half.
“Maybe as stressful a game as I have ever been a part of, it just seemed like that darn thing would never end,” ISU coach Fred Hoiberg said. He said he was proud of the way his team came out to start both halves.
The Cyclones improve to 5-2 in the Big 12 and bounced back from a puzzling loss at Texas Tech and Hoiberg says it was fun to see them moving the ball and credits them with getting together after the loss and talking things out.
ISU looked like it would cruise to victory before the Longhorns caught fire. “We’re trying to take away some things down the stretch and when we tried to take away penetration, they’d hit a three. And when we tried to stay hugged up to their shooters, they’d get in and hit a floater,” Hoiberg says.
Georges Niang led Iowa State with 19 points and Bryce Dejean-Jones added 18.