ISU Falls At No. 7 Texas, 75-67

AUSTIN, Texas ?No. 7 Texas received 19 and 17 points from big men Damion James and Gary Johnson to down a gritty Iowa State team, 75-67 Saturday afternoon in the Big 12 opener in Austin, Texas.

ISU, which ends its four-game winning streak and falls to 11-5 on the season, hung tough with the Longhorns, but came away on the short end in its Big 12 opener for the second consecutive season. The Cyclones outrebounded the bigger Longhorns, 42-38, grabbing a season-best 13 boards on the offensive glass.

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Final Stats

"I was proud of how we competed today," ISU head coach Greg McDermott said. "We got down by 13 points in the first half and Brackins (Craig) was on the bench with a couple of fouls. I was pleased how we battled back and got ourselves in the game. We started the second half how we needed to start it. We got three stops and got it to a one-point game."

Iowa State fell down by as much as 13 points (29-16) after making just 6-of-its-first-25 shots from the floor to begin the game. The Cyclones also got into foul trouble, as leading scorer Craig Brackins picked up two quick fouls and sat the majority of the first half while being held to one point.

ISU staged a late run to end the first period to sneak back into the game. The Cyclones ended the half on an 11-4 run to go into the break down, 33-27. Bryan Petersen hit a deep trey and Alex Thompson capped off the rally with a 15-jumper to help close the gap.

ISU kept the heat on the Longhorns at the start of the second period, going on a 12-5 run to cut the lead to 39-38 with 15:35 left in the game. Diante Garrett hit a trey, Lucca Staiger scored two baskets and Brackins made his first field goal on a conventional 3-point play to quiet the Erwin Center crowd.

UT then went on a 9-2 run to move back ahead 48-40 after Varez Ward scored four-straight points. The Cyclones then slashed the deficit to three points (48-45) with 11:51 remaining in the game after Jamie Vanderbeken drained a bomb from the wing.

The Longhorns countered with a 10-2 rally to go up 11 points (58-47) with 7:22 left in the game. Dexter Pittman and Damion James each tallied four points in the run to give the home team a comfortable lead.

The lead crept down to five points (62-57) one last time after Brackins buried a 3-pointer, but UT put the game away with a 9-2 run to go up 71-59 with 2:12 remaining

Lucca Staiger tallied 15 points for the Cyclones, making 3-of-9 shots from downtown to give him 39 on the season. He also handed out a career-high five assists. Brackins posted his sixth double-double in his last 11 games with 20 points and 13 boards, scoring 19 points in the second half. It is Brackins' eighth 20-point game of the season. Justin Hamilton chipped in with eight points and 10 boards, his second double-digit rebounding effort of the year.

ISU is back in action on Wednesday (Jan. 14), playing host to Nebraska at 7 p.m.

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Team Stats

Craig Brackins

Lucca Staiger

Diante Garrett

Justin Hamilton

Players Mentioned

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Justin Hamilton

Justin Hamilton

Bryan Petersen

Bryan Petersen

Lucca Staiger

Lucca Staiger

Lucca Staiger

Alex Thompson

Alex Thompson

Jamie Vanderbeken

Jamie Vanderbeken

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