ISU Loses To Colorado in Final Seconds, 75-72

Saturday, February 27

Boulder, Colo.

12:45 PM

Iowa State

14-15, 3-11

Colorado

13-15, 4-10

Iowa State

Colorado

ISU Loses To Colorado in Final Seconds, 75-72

02.27.2010 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: cyclones.com

BOULDER, Colo. ? Iowa State's Diante Garrett missed a shot at the buzzer that would have forced overtime, as the Cyclones lost in the closing seconds to Colorado, 75-72 Saturday afternoon in Boulder, Colo.

CU's Cory Higgins was the star of the game, scoring 33 points, going 12-of-15 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. The Cyclones led throughout most of the second half, but poor free-throw shooting down the stretch hurt ISU. The Cyclones made just 12-of-21 shots from the line and CU was a perfect 12-of-12 from the charity stripe, which turned out to be the difference in the game.

“We have had a lot of close games this year, but we have not found a way to win enough of them,” ISU head coach Greg McDermott said. “We rebounded well enough, we did not turn the ball over, shot a decent percentage, but we did not make our free throws. If we make our free throws, we win the game.”

Iowa State quickly fell behind in the early stages of the contest, as Colorado got off to a hot start, making 9-of-11 shots while forging a 23-15 lead with 11:16 remaining in the first half.

Alec Burks was 3-of-3 from the field (seven points) and Higgins was 3-of-4 from the floor (six points) to kickstart the Buff offense.

Marquis Gilstrap kept ISU in the game by scoring seven of ISU's 10 points in a 10-2 Cyclone run to knot the game at 25-25 with 6:38 left before intermission.

The Cyclones kept applying pressure, taking a six-point lead after a Craig Brackins slam made it 37-31 ISU with 0:50 seconds left. CU cut the ISU lead to two points (38-36) when Marcus Relphorde buried a trey at the buzzer.

Relphorde and Higgins each had 12 points in the first half to pace CU, while Gilstrap and Brackins tallied 12 and nine points, respectively to lead ISU.

ISU maintained its lead throughout the first nine minutes of the second period, clinging to a 51-48 advantage after a Gilstrap jumper. CU then took over the lead thanks to Higgins, who scored 10 points in a six-minute span to give the Buffs a 57-55 advantage with 7:20 remaining in the game.

After Garrett tied the game with a pair of free-throws, Casey Crawford came off the bench and buried two deep 3-pointers to give the Buffs a 63-59 lead at the 6:12 mark of the second half. Both teams traded baskets for the next four minutes and the Buffs still held onto a four-point lead (71-67) after Burks made a pair of free throws with 1:16 left in the game.

The Cyclones answered when Hamilton was fouled on a lay-in with 0:54 seconds left, converting the 3-point play to make it 71-70 CU in the final minute. Burks was fouled on a rebound on the other end, connecting both free-throws to push the lead back up to three points with 0:23 seconds left.

Instead of going for a trey to tie the game, Gilstrap scored on a lay-up with 0:07 seconds left to make it a one-point game again. ISU then quickly fouled Higgins, who again made both charity shots, giving ISU one last hope down three points (75-72) with 0:06 seconds left.

Gilstrap finished with a career-high 26 points and ISU outrebounded CU, 37-21, the sixth time ISU has outrebounded an opponent in the last 10 games. Brackins added 13 points and nine boards in the loss. Brackins now has 708 boards in his career to rank ninth all-time in school history.

CU shot 55.1 percent from the field, the highest percentage ISU has allowed this season. It is only the second time ISU has allowed an opponent to shoot above 50 percent this year (Baylor).

ISU, which falls to 14-15 overall and 3-11 in Big 12 play, committed a season-low seven turnovers in the loss.

ISU plays its final home game vs. Missouri on Tuesday night.