Morris Leads Cyclones to 85-75 Win Over Texas

AMES, Iowa – Monte' Morris scored 19 points in the second half to aid No. 14 Iowa State (18-7, 7-5) to an 85-75 victory over No. 24 Texas (16-9, 7-5) Saturday night in Hilton Coliseum.

Morris, who equaled a career high with 24 points in the win, made a number of clutch shots in the final seven minutes to hold off a Texas rally. Georges Niang also scored 24 points, his 32nd career game of 20 or more points. Jameel McKay came off the bench to tally eight points, seven boards and four blocks.

Morris made 7-of-9 shots after intermission to help the Cyclones shoot a blistering 66.7 percent (16-of-24) in the second period. ISU shot 55.4 percent for the game, the 14th time this season where the Cyclones made at least half of their shot from the field.

The win was ISU's fourth over a ranked opponent this season and its 22nd over a rated foe in the last three seasons.

How it Happened
Iowa State jumped ahead early, mounting a nine-point lead after Morris scored on a conventional 3-point play to make it 21-12 with 10:08 left in the opening period. UT then went on a 12-0 run as the Cyclones went cold. Javan Felix buried a 3-pointer to cap off the run and give the Longhorns a 24-21 advantage.

Niang then scored 13-straight Cyclone points, including nine on a trio of treys, to help ISU retake the lead at 34-30 with under two minutes left before the break. The Cyclones went into the break with a 36-34 lead.

A Morris trey and a dunk by McKay increased the Cyclone lead to 52-44 with 13:56 left in the game. However, the game was soon tied at 56-56 at the 10-minute mark when the Longhorns answered with a 12-4 run.

ISU got the lead back, but couldn't shake Felix, who scored 10-straight points for the Longhorns. Morris made a long 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock to put ISU up 69-65 with 6:13 remaining. ISU extended its lead to 73-67 on McKay dunk, but Tevin Mack made his fifth 3-pointer of the game to cut the lead to 73-70 under the four-minute mark.

After both teams duked it out for three minutes, Morris hit another key shot on a fadeaway jumper to give the Cyclones an 81-74 lead with 1:18 remaining.

Cyclone of Note: Monte' Morris. Morris equaled his career high with 24 points in the win tonight, including 19 in the second half. He came up big when the Cyclones needed it. Twice in the final seven minutes Morris hit clutch shots with the shot clock running down, including a long 3-pointer with 6:13 left to give the Cyclones a 69-65 lead. Morris was 7-of-9 from the field in the second half.

Cyclone Quick Hits
*Tonight's win was the 22nd vs. a ranked opponent in the last three seasons, the second-highest total in the nation behind Kansas.
ISU is now 4-3 vs. ranked opponents this season.
*ISU has won five-straight games vs. Texas in Hilton Coliseum.
*Matt Thomas is 18-of-34 (52.9 pct.) from 3-point range in his last seven games.
*Georges Niang recorded 24 points, his 33rd game in a row in double-figure scoring.
*Niang tallied his 32nd game of 20+ points in his career.
*Niang grabbed six boards to give him 655 in his career, tying Klay Edwards at No. 18 on ISU's career rebounding list.
*Niang now has 1,990 career points, moving past A.J. Abrams (Texas) to No. 9 on the Big 12 career scoring list.
Niang recorded his 116th career start, the fourth-best total in school history.
*Niang played in his 93rd career win as a Cyclone, the most in school history.
*Monte' Morris tallied his career high in points with 24, the eighth 20+ point game of his career.

Up Next
Iowa State travels to Baylor (Feb. 16) on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

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Team Stats

Monte Morris

Georges Niang

Matt Thomas

Deonte Burton

Players Mentioned

Georges Niang

Sponsors

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