Cyclones Fall to Iowa, 80-68

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy said it's time point guard Jamaal Tinsley stopped reading his press clippings.

Tinsley was outplayed by Iowa's Dean Oliver on Saturday as the Hawkeyes upset No. 25 Iowa State 80-68.

"Very poor," Eustachy said, describing the play of Tinsley, who led ISU in scoring but had seven turnovers to just four assists while missing 11 of 16 shots from the floor and making seven of 12 free throws.

"He was outdetermined by Dean Oliver and our team was outdetermined by Iowa. It was as simple as that," Eustachy said.

Eustachy, who is 1-2 against the Hawkeyes with both losses coming at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, opened his postgame press conference by saying, "God, I hate this place. I just want to throw up."

Oliver, who had been struggling coming into the game with an eight-point scoring average, hit 9-of-17 shots and both of his free throws while taking charge in the second half. He finished with a season-best 22.

The senior from Mason City was the only starter from the state in the annual intrastate rivalry.

"I knew Dean would be the most determined guy in this gym," Eustachy said. "He's from Iowa. My hat's off to him."

Iowa coach Steve Alford never lost confidence in Oliver.

"The only thing we told Dean was just relax. What an incredible young man," Alford said. "Dean Oliver is a pro. It's time to recognize what he's capable of. I thought he was outstanding."

Oliver said a victory over the Cyclones in his last year at Iowa helped motivate him.

"This is my senior year. This game definitely meant a lot to me," he said. "It seemed like the stage was set perfectly. Both teams were undefeated. There couldn't have been a bigger game in the season for us.

"I'm glad I performed at the level I did."

Luke Recker scored 28 points, and Reggie Evans had 13 points and 13 rebounds for his seventh straight double-double for Iowa (7-0). The Hawkeyes also got 11 points from Ryan Hogan.

Tinsley led Iowa State (6-1) with 18 points, Tyray Pearson added 13 and Paul Shirley and Jake Sullivan had 10 each.

The Hawkeyes led most of the game although it was never by more than three points in the second half until the final 6:33.

That's when Evans sunk two free throws to extend Iowa's 62-59 edge to 64-59. Pearson missed the front end of a one-and-one and Oliver took charge, drilling a 3-pointer from the right wing to push the lead to 67-61 with 4:09 remaining.

Jared Reiner blocked a shot by Tinsley, one of three Cyclone starters to foul out, and Oliver hit another long-range shot from the same spot to give the Hawkeyes a 70-61 lead with 3:43 to play.

Horton's three-point play chopped the lead to 70-64, but Oliver answered with a layup and added two free throws after Evans had made 1-of-2 from the line to give the Hawkeyes a 75-64 lead with 1:18 left.

Iowa made 8-of-12 free throws in the final 2:51 to hold off the Cyclones.

Shirley and Rancik also fouled out as the Cyclones committed 28 fouls. Iowa, which outrebounded ISU 39-32, was 23-of-34 from the foul line.

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Players Mentioned

Tyray Pearson

Paul Shirley

Paul Shirley

Jake Sullivan

Jamaal Tinsley

Jamaal Tinsley

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Iowa State University Athletics