Cyclones Are Big 12 Tournament Champs Again

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – No. 23 Iowa State (23-10, 12-6 Big 12) did it again.

Behind another hot shooting night, the Cyclones downed No. 11 West Virginia (26-8, 12-6 Big 12), 80-74 to win their third Big 12 Tournament title in the last four seasons.

Iowa State shot 54.2 percent from the field and took control late in the first half to remain undefeated in Big 12 Tournament championship games at 4-0. The Cyclones blistered the nets in their three tournament games, drilling 54.7 percent of their shots.

Monte' Morris was again sensational, scoring 17 points to earn the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honors. Morris, who averaged 18.3 points in the three tournament games, tallied two steals to become the Big 12 Tournament's all-time leader in steals with 26.

Deonte Burton added 16 points, including 14 points in the second half, to make the all-tournament team. He also grabbed five boards and had three steals. Matt Thomas joined Morris and Burton on the all-tournament team by scoring 12 points.

The Cyclones fell down early (12-4), but battled back with strong bench play from Darrell Bowie and Nick Weiler-Babb. Bowie had 10 points and Weiler-Babb had five points in the opening period and Morris scored buckets, including a trey in the final seconds, on ISU's last three possessions to give ISU a 35-29 lead at the break.

Burton hit a pair of treys and Thomas knock down one from long range to help ISU forge ahead 56-44 midway through the second half.

WVU trimmed the lead to five points, but ISU answered with a 6-2 run to go up 71-62 with 3:21 left and the Mountaineers never threatened the rest of the way.

Players of Note
Darrell Bowie tallied his third double-digit scoring game vs. league opponents with 10 points from off the bench. He gave the Cyclones a spark in the first half with all of his 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting. Three times in the opening period he scored a hoop despite being fouled. It was his second double-digit scoring game in the tournament (13 vs. Oklahoma State).

Monte' Morris came up big again for the Cyclones, scoring 17 points, dishing out three assists and grabbing six boards. Morris hit three-straight buckets to close the half to give the Cyclones a lead at the break.

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Team Stats

Monte Morris

Deonte Burton

Matt Thomas

Darrell Bowie

Players Mentioned

Darrell Bowie

Deonte Burton

Matt Thomas

Nick Weiler-Babb

Players Mentioned

Darrell Bowie

Deonte Burton

Matt Thomas

Nick Weiler-Babb

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Iowa State University Athletics