ISU Downs Houston in Double OT, 82-75

AMES, Iowa ? Marquis Gilstrap scored eight points in the second overtime and Lucca Staiger buried six treys to aid Iowa State to an 82-75 double-overtime thriller over Houston Sunday afternoon in Hilton Coliseum.

ISU, which improves to 10-3 on the season, struggled to score points throughout most of the game, but played solid defense, holding UH to 39.2 percent shooting from the floor. It kept the Cyclones in the game until Gilstrap, who ended the game with 17 points, took over in the second overtime.

"I have been telling everybody all week that this game was going to be exciting," ISU head coach Greg McDermott said. "I didn't think that it would be exciting for the reasons it was. Obviously, Houston played in a way that they haven't all season. We had been preparing for something totally different and our guys defensively adjusted to it pretty well. We know what Gilstrap is capable of and we saw that in the second overtime."

The Cyclones jumped out to an 8-2 lead behind a pair of treys from Staiger and Craig Brackins. The Cougars followed with an 11-2 run to go up 13-10 with 13:12 left in the first half. A Kelvin Lewis 3-pointer gave UH a 16-12 advantage at the second media timeout.

The Cougars (7-6) maintained their six-point lead (22-16) with under eight minutes to play in the first half until ISU scored 10-staight points to retake the lead at 26-22. Brackins powered home a dunk to cap off the rally. However, UH rallied with seven-straight points to move back in front 30-26 with 4:04 left before the half.

ISU was down at the break for just the second time this season, 33-32.

UH moved ahead by five points at 44-39 after a Lewis jumper. Staiger then got hot, hitting 3-pointers on three-straight possessions to knot the game at 48-48 with 12:54 remaining in the game. Aubrey Coleman came right back to bury a deep trey to halt ISU's momentum.

It continued to be a close game throughout most of the second half. ISU tied the game again at 53-53 at the 8:56 mark. ISU finally took its first lead of the second half with a Diante Garrett lay-in with 4:22 left in the game (57-56), ending a three-minute scoring drought for the Cyclones.

ISU's drought coincided with a lull by the Cougars, as UH went five minutes without scoring until Zamal Nixon tallied a lay-up to make it 58-57 Cougars with 2:12 left in the contest.

Nixon made a free-throw to give the Cougars a 59-57 lead with one minute left. Brackins was fouled on the other end going in for a dunk with 0:38 seconds remaining, making one of two free-throws.

ISU was still well short of the bonus and promptly fouled twice. The Cougars attempted an inbound pass, but it was tipped and controlled by Staiger, who fired a pass to a surging Garrett who laid the ball in and was fouled. He made the free-throw to give ISU a 61-59 lead with 0:23 seconds left.

Nixon was fouled by Scott Christopherson and was sent to the line with a one-and-one. He missed it, but the rebound was grabbed by Houston. The Cougars had two looks, with the second attempt going in by Maurice McNeil under the hoop with 0:01 seconds left to send the game into overtime at 61-61.

A pair of Coleman baskets gave UH a 68-65 lead with 1:38 left in the overtime period. ISU's only points in the first overtime up to that point were from free-throws.

Brackins made a pair of free-throws to cut the lead to 68-67 with 1:10 left in the extra period. Adam Brown then hit one of two free-throws for Houston with 0:30 seconds left to go back up by two points at 69-67. Garrett then came up clutch on the other end, making a running bank shot with 0:09 seconds left to knot the game at 69-69.

Houston failed to get the shot off in its last possession, sending the game into a second overtime period.

A pair of Gilstrap buckets and a deep trey from Staiger, his sixth of the game, quickly put ISU in the driver's seat with a 76-69 lead with 2:35 left in the second overtime. After Coleman got UH on board with a jumper, Gilstrap drove and scored again to give ISU a comfortable 78-71 lead with 1:45 remaining.

ISU maintained its comfortable lead throughout the rest of the overtime.

Staiger finished the game with a team-high 18 points and Brackins notched his fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 boards. Coleman had 28 points to pace the Cougars.

ISU is back in action on Wednesday vs. Duke at the United Center in Chicago, Ill. Tip is set for 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

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Team Stats

Lucca Staiger

Marquis Gilstrap

Craig Brackins

Diante Garrett

Players Mentioned

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Scott Christopherson

Scott Christopherson

Scott Christopherson

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Marquis Gilstrap

Lucca Staiger

Lucca Staiger

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics