Back-To-Back Big 12 Tournament Champions!

Saturday, March 14

Kansas City, Mo.

5:00 PM

Iowa State

25-8, 12-6

Kansas (Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship)

26-8, 13-5

Iowa State

Kansas

Back-To-Back Big 12 Tournament Champions!

03.14.2015 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: cyclones.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Iowa State is the Big 12 Tournament champion for the second-straight year, and it accomplished the incredible feat in its usual dramatic fashion. Trailing by 17 points early in the second half, No. 13 ISU (25-8 overall, 12-6 Big 12) rallied to defeat No. 9 Kansas (26-8 overall, 13-5 Big 12), 70-66 Saturday night in the Big 12 Championship final in Kansas City, Mo.

It marked the fifth-straight game where the Cyclones were down by double digits only to recover in victory. It also marked the second time in three days where ISU mounted a second-half comeback of 15 points or more (Texas).

ISU's 25 wins on the season ties for third all-time in school history and the victory was ISU's ninth vs. a ranked opponent this season, tying a school record.

Georges Niang was named tournament MVP by tallying a team-high 19 points and Monte' Morris joined him on the all-tournament team with 11 points, six assists and two steals.

The Cyclones also received massive help from their bench in Abdel Nader (13) and Bryce Dejean-Jones (7), who combined for 20 points to help ISU win its fourth conference postseason tournament title in school history.

How it happened…
Kansas went into the break with a 37-23 lead, as the Cyclones couldn't get the lid off the basket, especially from long range. ISU made just 1-of-11 shots from downtown in the opening period.

Niang was a bright spot in the first period, scoring 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Wayne Selden led KU with 13 first-half points.

Frank Mason opened the second half by making three free-throws to put KU up by 17 points (40-23) before vicious Cyclone struck. ISU rallied with 10-straight points in just over two minutes to cut the KU lead to 40-33 with 16:56 left.

McKay had six points and Niang tallied four points in the run. Niang also assisted on two of McKay's baskets.

The Cyclones weren't done. After a pair of Mason free-throws increased the KU lead to nine points, ISU roared back with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 42-40. In all, a 17-2 ISU run vanquished a 17-point KU lead into two points in less than five minutes.

Iowa State tied the game at 51-51 when Niang scored on a nice feed from Morris and Dejean-Jones converted a steal into a dunk with 8:00 minutes remaining in the game.

Another 10-0 run gave the Cyclones a 57-51 advantage with 5:50 remaining. Dejean-Jones recorded two more buckets and Nader added a drive to the hoop to help ISU take control.

ISU held a seven-point lead (61-54) after Morris hit a floater with 4:34 remaining. However, ISU went cold and the Jayhawks crept closer at 61-60, all on free-throws, with under two minutes remaining.

Selden then tied the game at 63-63 with a conventional 3-point play with 1:29 left in the game. However, Nader answered with a pair of free-throws followed by a Morris free-throw to move ahead 66-63 with 0:32 seconds left.

ISU sealed the game by making all of its free-throws down the stretch.

The #cyclONEgameball goes to…
Georges Niang. The Cyclone leader paced ISU to its second-straight Big 12 Tournament title by tallying 19 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Keeping the Jayhawks off-balance with his nifty array of shots and ball-handling, Niang controlled the game. The tournament MVP has scored 139 career points in Big 12 Championship history, the 10th-best total in league history.

Game Notes
*ISU is 4-6 when trailing at halftime.
*ISU has been tied or behind at halftime in each of its last five games (5-0).
*ISU has trailed by at least 10 points in each of its last five games (5-0).
*ISU has five wins in the past two seasons when trailing by 15+ points in the second half.
*This is the ninth time under Fred Hoiberg that ISU has erased a double-digit second-half deficit to win.
*Including postseason, ISU is 15-4 against conference opponents the last two seasons in games decided by six or fewer points (or in overtime).
*ISU is averaging 50.2 points in the second half in its last five games.
*ISU is 17-4 when at least four players score in double figures.
*ISU is 21-2 when outshooting its opponent from the field.
*ISU is 13-1 when holding is opponent to fewer than 70 points.
*ISU is 17-3 when outrebounding its opponents.
*ISU has won nine games this season against AP Top 25 teams, tying for the most in school history (nine, last season).
*This was ISU's 13th game with both teams ranked in the AP Top 25, a new single-season school record.
*ISU has 18 wins over AP Top 25 teams the past two seasons, most in the NCAA.
*ISU has recorded 25+ wins in consecutive seasons for just the second time in school history (2000-01).
*ISU's 25 wins tie for the third-most in school history.
*This is the first time ISU has beaten Kansas twice in a season since 2000-01.
*ISU's five-game winning streak is its second-best heading into NCAA Tournament play (7, 1999-2000).
*ISU has at least two wins over six different conference teams this season, matching the 1999-2000 squad for top honors.
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