ISU Makes It Six-Straight With 86-83 Win Over OSU

AMES, Iowa – No. 24 Iowa State (20-9, 12-5 Big 12) went out in style on Senior Night by hanging on for its sixth-straight win in an 86-83 victory over Oklahoma State (20-10, 9-8 Big 12) Tuesday night in Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones held off a late OSU rally, making four big free throws and forcing a huge turnover, thanks to Monte' Morris, to win 12 games in league play for only the fourth time in school history

ISU used its usual recipe for success, draining 15 3-pointers in 31 attempts and only committing seven turnovers. The Cyclone seniors accounted for 76 of the team's 86 points.

Matt Thomas was on fire in his final home game, equaling career highs in points (25) and 3-pointers (7). Deonte Burton added 20 points in the victory.

Morris was incredible in his home finale. The senior fell one rebound shy of a triple-double, scoring 12 points and leading the team in rebounds (9), assists (11) and steals (3). His big play at the end of the game was critical in the victory.

Morris' three steals made him ISU's all-time career leader in thefts, passing Jeff Hornacek with 214.

How it Happened
Iowa State took a 24-16 lead after Thomas hit his fourth trey of the opening period with 8:47 on the clock. OSU then got hot, going on a 12-1 run to take a 28-25 lead with 5:41 remaining in the period.

The Cowboys had a stretch where they made seven-straight shots from the field to move ahead 34-30. ISU then hit a trio of 3-pointers to close the half, two by Naz Mitrou-Long and one by Burton, to go into the break with a 40-39 lead.

OSU opened the second half with seven-straight points to move ahead, 46-40, but the Cyclones answered with a 10-0 run. Thomas hit a pair of triples in the run, as the Cyclones retook the lead at 50-46.

Up 52-51, the Cyclones scored nine-straight points for a 61-51 advantage with 12:06 remaining. Thomas hit a trey and a pair of free-throws after OSU head coach Brad Underwood was whistled for a technical.

Seven-straight points by OSU trimmed the lead to 66-62, but ISU answered with an 8-2 run with Burton draining a trey and converting a conventional 3-point play on a strong drive to push ISU up 74-64 with under four minutes left.

OSU then stormed back to cut the lead to 77-75 with 1:50 left behind a pair of treys from Jawun Evans. Both teams traded baskets followed by a pair of free-throws by Burton to give ISU an 81-77 lead with 0:21 seconds left.

Evans was fouled on a 3-pointer, connecting all three charity shots to trim the Cyclone lead at 81-80 with 0:13 seconds left. Mitrou-Long then hit two charity shots with 0:08 seconds to make it an 84-81 ISU lead. The Cyclones then came up with a huge defensive play on the ensuing in-bound play by forcing a turnover, which was followed by a Thomas lay-in to make it 86-81 with a few seconds left.

Players of Note
Matt Thomas equaled career highs in points (25) and 3-pointers (7), making 7-of-11 shots from beyond the arc. It marked the fourth time this season where a Cyclone made seven or more treys in a game (Thomas- 2, Mitrou-Long-2, Burton-1).

Monte' Morris put up another outstanding stat line, scoring 12 points and leading the Cyclones in rebounds (9), assists (11) and steals (3). It marked the fourth time this season and 15th time in his career where he handed out 10+ dimes in a game.

Cyclone Quick Hits
*ISU recorded 20 wins for the sixth-straight season.
*ISU has defeated OSU nine-straight times and swept the Cowboys in four-straight seasons.
*ISU's recorded its 12^th league win, tying for the third-most in school history.
*ISU has won six-straight Big 12 games for the first time since 2005 (7-straight).
*ISU's six-game Big 12 winning streak is tied for the third-longest in the Big 12 era (1997-2017).
*Morris had 11 assists, his eighth-straight game with five or more dimes.
*Morris has 63 assists and 5 turnovers in his last eight games.
*Morris tallied three steals to become ISU's all-time career steal leader, passing Jeff Hornacek with 214.
*Naz Mitrou-Long was 2-of-7 from 3-point range tonight. He is 32-of-68 from beyond the arc in his last eight games.
*Mitrou-Long now has 83 3-pointers on the season to rank No. 8 on ISU's season chart.
*Mitrou-Long had a 17-straight free-throw made streak end tonight.
*Matt Thomas hit seven 3-pointers, the fourth time this season he has made 5+ treys in a game.
*ISU has had four players hit 5+ players in a game 12 times this season.
*ISU had less turnovers (7) than its opponent (13) for the 24th time this season.
*ISU hit 15 3-pointers, the 14^th time this season with 10+ treys.
*ISU's 15 3-pointers ties for the fourth-best single-game effort in school history.

Next Up: Iowa State travels West Virginia on Friday (March 3). Tipoff is at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

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Team Stats

Matt Thomas

Deonte Burton

Nazareth Mitrou-Long

Monte Morris

Players Mentioned

Deonte Burton

Matt Thomas

Players Mentioned

Deonte Burton

Matt Thomas

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