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Creighton (Exhibition)
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Iowa State University Athletics
Wednesday, January 29
Stillwater, Okla.
TBA
Iowa State University
55
at
68
Oklahoma State
Cyclones Fall on the Road to No. 9 Oklahoma State, 68-55
01.29.2003 | Men's Basketball
STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State showed why it has won 15 in a row and might win a bunch more - its defense always seems to come through.
The ninth-ranked Cowboys sputtered on offense against Iowa State, but their defense triggered a big second-half run that carried them to a 68-55 victory Wednesday night.
Oklahoma State (17-1, 6-0 Big 12) held the Cyclones to 38 percent shooting and came up with 23 turnovers, 15 of them steals. They held Iowa State's leading scorer, Jake Sullivan, to six points - 12 below his average - on 1-of-10 shooting.
And with the Cyclones hanging tough in the second half, Oklahoma State put together a 20-7 spurt to put the game out of reach.
"Our offense really wasn't going too well tonight," said Melvin Sanders, who was responsible for shutting down Sullivan. "We had to pick up our defense and get a lot of transition baskets. That was the only way we really scored tonight."
The Cowboys, riding the longest winning streak among Division I teams, scored 27 points off turnovers.
Victor Williams led Oklahoma State with 18 points, including three three-point plays during the Cowboys' big run. Tony Allen had 15 and Sanders scored 12.
"They played a really strong defensive game, but there is no reason for 23 turnovers," said Adam Haluska, who scored 15 points to lead the Cyclones (11-6, 1-5). "Turnovers have plagued us all year and that's something we work on in practice but never carry out in the game."
Jackson Vroman had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Iowa State.
After trailing by just four at halftime, the Cyclones got to 34-32 early in the second half. Oklahoma State led 42-38 when it finally took over.
Ivan McFarlin scored inside to start the run at the 10:09 mark, and Williams followed with a three-point play off a turnover. Sanders added a dunk on a fastbreak, and after a free throw by Andre Williams, Victor Williams scored and was fouled on a layup after a steal by Cheyne Gadson.
His final three-point play, after a blocked shot by Allen, came minutes later and made it 62-45 with 4:43 remaining. The Cyclones got no closer than 10 after that.
Andre Williams said the Cowboys, who visit No. 3 Texas on Saturday, overlooked Iowa State.
"They're a hell of a ballclub and came out and played hard and did everything they could try to do to win the game," he said. "I guess we were looking to Saturday. That's something we can't do in the future."
Oklahoma State hurt itself at the foul line, going just 19-of-34.
The Cowboys appeared to have control after a 10-0 run gave them a 22-11 lead with about 8? minutes left in the first half. Iowa State turned the ball over five straight times during that stretch, and Oklahoma State took advantage.
But the Cowboys made only one basket in the final five minutes, a 3-pointer by Sanders, and the Cyclones got to 29-25 at halftime.
Most of the first half was played without a shot clock after one malfunctioned. The public address announcer warned when the clock reached 20, 15, 10 and 5 seconds. There were no shot clock violations and both clocks worked fine in the second half.
Players Mentioned
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