Niang-Led Rally Falls Short to No. 6 OU, 79-76

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Despite a valiant effort from All-American Georges Niang, No. 21 Iowa State saw its bid to win a third-straight Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championships come to an end with a 79-76 loss to No. 6 Oklahoma Thursday night at the Sprint Center. The loss takes ISU to 21-11 on the season, while Oklahoma advances to the semifinals with a 25-6 record.

Niang finished the game with 31 points, 25 of which came in the second half. Matt Thomas chipped in with 13 points. Niang's effort was offset by an incredible individual performance by Big 12 Player of the Year Buddy Hield, who recorded 39 points in the Sooners' win.

How it Happened
The game got off to a slow start, with both sides struggling to shoot and Oklahoma struggling to hang onto the ball against Monté Morris. The junior point guard got three steals in the first seven minutes of the game and helped feed ISU's recently minted two-time All-American Georges Niang to get ISU its first lead at 9-7 on a Niang lay-in.

Offensive rhythm was still at a premium as the first half went along, with neither team building a lead of more than one possession until the fouls began to pile up late in the first half for Iowa State. Morris and Niang each got to two fouls, allowing OU to pull ahead 30-26 at the charity stripe. Matt Thomas hit a 3-pointer to bring ISU back within one possession, but the Sooners responded with a corner 3-pointer by Isiah Cousins to give the No. 6 squad in the country a six-point advantage at 35-29.

Oklahoma was the better team coming out of the locker room, continuing to feed Big 12 Player of the Year Buddy Heild en route to building up a lead of as many as 12 points. Iowa State worked hard to get themselves back in contention, turning the attention to shooting from 3-point land to cut the lead back down to eight at 48-40. However, the Cyclones were unable to take advantage of the momentum as OU rode Heild to its largest lead of the game at 59-45.

ISU wrestled its way back to single-digits via a 7-0 run in under two minutes that brought the Sooners back within 59-52. Oklahoma tried to pull away, but Niang willed ISU to stay in the game, as he racked up 14-straight points for Iowa State to bring OU back within six at 67-61. OU failed to take its chances to pull away from the free throw line, allowing ISU to four back at 73-69 on an Abdel Nader 3-pointer. A shot clock violation gave ISU a needed stop, but Nader could not take advantage from deep, and OU was eventually able to ice the game away at the charity stripe.

Cyclone of Note: Georges Niang. Not to be out-done by his fellow All-America and All-Big 12 performer on the other bench in Buddy Heild, Niang was outstanding Thursday night. After being limited in the first half by foul trouble, Niang took over the game in the second half, doing his very best to keep ISU within striking distance of the Sooners. The Cyclone senior recorded 31 points on 13-of-18 shooting, which also included seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

Cyclone Quick Hits
*Thursday marked the 25th all-time meeting between Iowa State and Oklahoma to take place in Kansas City. Oklahoma now leads in games played in KC 13-12.
*Monté Morris tied a season-high with four steals, his fourth game of the season with a quartet of steals.
*Morris now has 221 assists on the season, the second-most in a season in ISU history.
*Matt Thomas hit a 3-pointer for the 22nd-straight game, the third-longest streak in Iowa State program history.
*Thomas is now up the 80 3-pointers on the season, the eighth-highest single-season total in ISU history.
*Thomas posted 13 points, his 18th game of the season in double figures and 35th of his career.
*Georges Niang tied Melvin Ejim with the most games played in Iowa State history at 135 games. Niang also tied Fred Hoiberg for the third-most starts by a Cyclone in program history with his 123rd career start.
*Niang tied a career-high with 31 points, the other instance coming against Buffalo earlier this season. It was his fourth career 30-point game.
*Niang is now at 2,142 career points, passing Kansas State's Jacob Pullen for fifth in Big 12 Conference history.

Up Next
Iowa State will find out its postseason fate during the NCAA Basketball Championship Selection Show, which will take place Sunday at 4:30 p.m. on CBS.

Niang-Led Rally Falls Short to No. 6 OU, 79-76

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Niang-Led Rally Falls Short to No. 6 OU, 79-76

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