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 No. 14 Iowa State looked as if it might run and hide before the
Sooners' junior guard turned the tide late in the first half and
helped No. 17 Oklahoma roll to a 94-83 win at Lloyd Noble Center.
Hield scored five points in the final 1:14 of the half and assisted
on another bucket to turn momentum Oklahoma's way. The Sooners
steadily pulled away in the second half to record their fifth
consecutive win.
"Going into that (late-first-half sequence), we just told each other
to stay together," Oklahoma senior forward TaShawn Thomas said. "We
had to keep fighting. We're at home. It's going to be easy for us to
get momentum to go with it. We just kept on grinding."
The win lifted Oklahoma (17-7, 8-4 Big 12) into sole possession of
second place in the conference.
Thomas led the Sooners with 22 points and added 11 rebounds, five
assists and three blocks. Junior guard Isaiah Cousins scored 19
points and handed out four assists. Hield added 17 and sophomore
guard Frank Booker had 14. Junior forward Ryan Spangler contributed
14 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.
Senior forward Dustin Hogue led the Cyclones (17-6, 7-4) with 19
points. Junior forward Jameel McKay added 16, and guard Naz Long and
Bryce Dejean-Jones added 14 apiece.
Iowa State led by 10 with just more than five minutes to play before
halftime thanks to nine 3-pointers, and the teams exchanged buckets
for most of the rest of the half before Hield took over.
It all started with a missed 3-pointer by Long.
Thomas grabbed the rebound and quickly fed it up to Hield for a
layup, and the comeback was on. Hield picked up a steal on the next
possession, and Oklahoma sophomore point guard Jordan Woodard
finished with a flash reverse layup.
Hield did it himself on the next possession, nailing a 3-pointer to
tie the game at 46.
Thomas finished the half with a big block to keep the momentum
squarely on the side of the Sooners.
"We had a 10-point lead with five minutes left and then we started
turning the ball over and giving them opportunities where they took
all the momentum going into halftime," Cyclones coach Fred Hoiberg
said. "I thought the key point in the game was those last five
minutes in the second half."
The Sooners controlled much of the second half, though Iowa State
briefly tied it with just less than 16 minutes remaining before
Oklahoma steadily stretched the lead to 20 with less than five
minutes to play.
"I think more than anything, we allowed them in transition to get
the rhythm," Hoiberg said. "That's an excellent basketball team. I
think it's as talented as any team in the entire country.
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"We wanted to stay closer to their shooters. They got the ball in
the right spots. (Oklahoma coach) Lon Kruger is one of the best in
the business of taking advantage of mismatches and seeing where
something is working to keep going to it."
Despite the frenetic pace of the game, Oklahoma turned the ball over
just seven times -- half of Iowa State's total.
"I thought the decisions with the ball were very good," Kruger said.
"I thought we shared the ball, we got it out of our hands quickly to
one another, big guys when they caught it inside made good decisions
in kicking it out, took care of it.
"Always the goal is to get a good shot on each possession. When you
only turn it over seven times in a 94-point game, that's a pretty
good percentage of good shots."
Oklahoma didn't take a free throw until just more than six minutes
remained in the game and finished with only six.
"That's rare," Kruger said. "Ninety-four points usually takes a lot
of free throws. I don't know if I have (seen something like that
before). That's very unusual."
NOTES: For the second consecutive game, Iowa State started junior F
Jameel McKay over senior G Bryce Dejean-Jones. Dejean-Jones was
benched after arriving late to Saturday's game against Texas Tech.
... Oklahoma senior F TaShawn Thomas stayed in the starting lineup
after sustaining an injury late in Saturday's win over TCU. Thomas
was poked in the eye and was evaluated for a possible concussion but
was cleared Monday before the game. Oklahoma has used the same
starting lineup in every game his season. ... Cyclones junior F
Georges Niang and Sooners junior G Buddy Hield each participated in
the LeBron James Skills Academy last summer. ... Iowa State plays
host to West Virginia on Saturday, the same day the Sooners play at
Kansas State.
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