ISU Gets 20th Win of 2014-15 at Texas, 85-77

Saturday, February 21

Austin, Texas

1:00 PM

Iowa State

20-6, 10-4

Texas

17-10, 6-8

Team	1	2	F
Iowa State	35	50	85
Texas	31	46	77

ISU Gets 20th Win of 2014-15 at Texas, 85-77

02.21.2015 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: cyclones.com

AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 14 Iowa State men's basketball team picked up its second road win in four days as the Cyclones knocked off Texas 85-77 Saturday afternoon at the Erwin Center. The win improved ISU to 20-6 overall, 10-4 in Big 12 play. ISU's win in Austin, its first since 2005, gave Iowa State its fourth-consecutive 20-win season, the first time in program history Iowa State has strung together four 20-win seasons.

The Cyclones shot 12-of-21 from 3-point range, its most efficient performance from deep of the season. Matt Thomas came off the bench to join Georges Niang in leading Iowa State with 17 points, Thomas' 17 being a career-high.

How it Happened
Iowa State scored the first six points of the contest, capped by a Naz Long 3-pointer, but UT would score the next six to tie it back up and help set the tone for a competitive first 20 minutes. For the majority of the rest of the half, neither team would see its lead get above one possession. The Cyclones were powered by its bench, as Bryce Dejean-Jones and Matt Thomas came off the pine to contribute a combined 18 first half points to the Cyclone effort.

With three minutes left in the first half, UT got ahead 31-27 on a Cameron Ridley tip-in, but the Cyclones finished the half strong. From that point, ISU went on an 8-0 run as Dejean-Jones and Monté Morris combined for all the points to get ISU ahead 35-31 heading to halftime.

ISU kept the roll going in the start of the second half as Dustin Hogue hit a corner 3-pointer to give Iowa State its largest lead to that point at 38-31. The Longhorns struggled to reel ISU back in. UT would reduce the Cyclone advantage to 43-40, but Georges Niang got hot, scoring seven of 10 ISU points to restore Iowa State's seven-point edge at 49-42.

The Horns kept battling away, once again reducing the ISU lead to three points, 53-50 after a Kendal Yancy 3-pointer. However, ISU was able to respond once again as a Long lay-in and a corner 3-ball from Thomas got the Cyclones its largest lead of the game at 58-50 with 7:20 to go. The next possession, after a Yancy trey, Thomas fired in another 3-pointer to get the Cyclone lead back to eight. Iowa State got its first double-figures lead a possession later as Long was left open on the left wing to make it 64-53 Cyclones.

With ISU maintaining its double-digit lead, UT forced Iowa State to hold its lead at the charity stripe, fouling on every possession across the last three minutes of action. Iowa State was able to hold its nerve, making 18-of-24 free throw attempts in the final 3:32 to help seal ISU's first back-to-back Big 12 road wins since 2006.

Cyclone Game Ball Goes to…
Matt Thomas. The sophomore has had an inconsistent season, but on Saturday he was a star. Thomas showed that this day was going to be different early on, making a pair of 3-pointers in the first half. In the second half, Thomas continued his bombardment from deep, making a couple more treys to help expand Iowa State's lead to double figures.

For the game, Thomas recorded a career-high 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting, 4-of-6 from 3-point range.

Up Next
Iowa State is back at home inside Hilton Coliseum Wednesday night for a match-up against No. 20 Baylor. Tip-off will be at 8 p.m. with the game being on ESPNU.

Game Notes
*Monté Morris has recorded a steal in 22 consecutive games.
*Morris finished with five assists, his 18th game this season with at least five dimes and 30th of his career.
*Bryce Dejean-Jones finished with 16 points, the 15th time this season he has finished in double figures.
*Jameel McKay finished with three blocks to move up to 41 on the season, ranking 12th for a single-season in school history.
*McKay also had two steals, his fourth game with multiple steals.
*Georges Niang recorded 17 points, his 20th game this season in double figures and 72nd of his career.
*Matt Thomas finished with 17 points off the bench, his seventh game in double figures this season.
*Dustin Hogue had 11 points, his 16th game this year in double figures.