Texas Tops Cyclones, 79-76

AMES, Iowa (AP) - James Thomas scored 17 points and converted after two big offensive rebounds in the final 1:08 as Texas rallied to beat Iowa State 79-76 Saturday night.

Texas (19-10, 10-6 Big 12) secured the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament by pulling out a victory while point guard T.J. Ford, who leads the nation in assists, watched most of the second half from the bench after straining a groin muscle.

Iowa State (12-18, 4-12) could not hold an eight-point lead in the last three minutes and lost for the seventh time in the conference when it had a last shot to win or tie the game. Jake Sullivan's fadeaway 3-point attempt bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

Thomas grabbed a miss by Fredie Williams and in one motion threw down a two-handed dunk to give the Longhorns a 76-75 lead with 1:08 remaining.

After Iowa State's Ricky Morgan made one of two free throws to tie it, Thomas came through again, grabbing the rebound after teammate Brian Boddicker missed a 3-point shot. He was fouled by Shane Power and made both free throws for a 78-76 lead with 31.4 seconds left.

Thomas came up with the ball after Iowa State's Tyray Pearson lost it going to the basket and Brandon Mouton made a final free throw for the Longhorns, who had to wait until Sullivan missed to celebrate.

Mouton and Sydmil Harris each scored 13 points for Texas and Royal Ivey added 11. Ford finished with six points and seven assists and ran his season total for assists to a school-record 243, one more than Johnny Moore had in 1978-79.

Pearson led Iowa State with 21 points, Power scored 19 and Sullivan 15.

Iowa State shot 65 percent in taking a 38-35 halftime lead and capitalized on a six-point possession to build what appeared to be a comfortable lead late in the game.

Jared Homan was fouled by Jason Klotz making a layup and the foul was ruled intentional. Homan made both free throws to give Iowa State a 67-63 lead and Morgan scooped in a shot on a drive to stretch the lead to six.

After Ivey scored for Texas, Homan dunked on a putback and Pearson scored inside for a 73-65 lead with 3:39 left. But the Cyclones made only one basket the rest of the way and Texas went on an 11-2 run to get the lead.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jared Homan

Jared Homan

Ricky Morgan

Ricky Morgan

Tyray Pearson

Tyray Pearson

Shane Power

Shane Power

Jake Sullivan

Jake Sullivan

Jake Sullivan

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics