Cyclones Handle Oklahoma, 81-68

Finally, Iowa State put together a complete game, knocking down shots from all over the floor and turning Oklahoma over early and often.

Steve Prohm must have been reading your thoughts on Twitter (sike don’t ever tweet at a coach, player, or recruit) and went with a different starting lineup as the Cyclones took on Oklahoma. Halliburton, Bolton, and Nixon would start in the backcourt, Michael Jacobson at the forward, and for the first time in his career, George Conditt in place of Solomon Young.

Iowa State came out of the gates ready to play, but found themselves trailing 14-10 at the under 12 media timeout. The ‘Clones would switch to a zone defense, which would rattle the Sooners. OU struggled to score, and Terrence Lewis got the scoring going with a quick 8 points, that put the Cyclones up for good. Once ISU’s defense got rolling, the offense could not be stopped. The final Oklahoma possession was a perfect representation of how the game had gone to this point. Tyr3se was able to get a steal with under 5 seconds left and drain a shot from the midcourt logo to put the good guys up 42-25 at the break.

The second half saw the Cyclones score 13 points in the first 2 and a half minutes, but an OU run would keep the Sooners in the game. After leading 55-29, the Cyclones would have that lead cut to as little as 13 early on in the final stanza. Iowa State switched back to the hybrid 2-3 zone to cool down the Sooners, along with going back to scoring. Rasir Bolton was able to keep the offense efficient after Haliburton was forced to sit after his 3rd foul, which is a big reason why the Cyclones won comfortably.

The real difference maker was the ability to force 15 turnovers, and score 32 points off those turnovers. ISU also shot the ball remarkably well from beyond the 3 point line, going 12-32 (37.5%), led by Tre Jackson’s effort off the bench (4-5). Rasir Bolton led all scorers with 23, to go along with his 6 assists and 2 rebounds. Tyrese Haliburton flirted with a double-double, scoring 15 with 8 assists, 5 boards, and 3 steals. Terrence Lewis also added a spark off the bench, tallying 10 points.

The Cyclones head to Waco on Wednesday to take on one of the nation’s best teams in Baylor.