Iowa State Dominates Big 12 Championship Game Over Houston
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Iowa State Cyclones dominated the Houston Cougars, 69-41, in the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship game T-Mobile Center on Saturday.
No. 2 seed Iowa State (27-7) won its first Big 12 Tournament since 2019 and claimed the Big 12’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, though there was little doubt the Cyclones were going to get an invite.
But, by defeating the No. 1 team in the country — and beating Houston for the second time this season — the Cyclones may have given the NCAA Tournament selection committee something to think about.
ESPN Bracketology had the Cyclones as a No. 2 seed going into the game. This win might push Iowa State to the No. 1 seed line.
No.1 seed Houston (30-4) was still the regular-season champions of the Big 12 in its first season and did so bouncing back from a 1-2 league start to win 14 of their last 15 regular-season games. Houston lost for the first time since Feb. 3 at Kansas.
Houston moved to the No. 1 overall seed in ESPN Bracketology right before Friday’s game. So it’s not clear how much Saturday’s loss will damage whether it gets a No. 1 seed.
The 68-team NCAA Tournament field is revealed at 5 p.m. central on Sunday.
Both the Cyclones and the Cougars ran right through their two games in the Big 12 Tournament, winning them by a combined average of 17.7 points. On paper, a battle between the No. 1 and No. 7 teams in the country — and the top two seeds in the Big 12 Tournament — should have gone to the buzzer.
Iowa State made sure it did anything but. Iowa State led by seven points at halftime and never looked back.
Iowa State started the second half stretching its lead to 14 points with a 7-0 run in the first 100 seconds, as Milan Momcilovic hit a fadeaway jumper, Keshon Gilbert scored a layup off a turnover and Gilbert drained a 3-pointer to prompt a time out from Houston, with ISU leading 37-23.
Momcilovic hit another 3-pointer after the time out to push the lead to 17 before Jamal Shead’s 3-pointer stopped the 10-0 run to start the second half.
From there, the rout was on. The Cyclones led by 20 points midway through the second half and Houston experienced its worst loss of the season.
Iowa State shot 50% or better for most of the game, with Gilbert scoring 18 points. Momcilovic, a freshman whose shot had headed up in this tournament, finished with 18 points, including four 3-pointers. Hason Ward added 13 points.
Houston forward J’Wan Roberts started the game despite injury his shin in the Cougars’ semifinal win over Texas Tech. He played 13 minutes in the first half, scoring two points and grabbing three rebounds. He started the second half on the bench and did not return.
Houston struggled from the field the entire game, at times shooting close to 20 percent. Big 12 Player of the Year Jamal Shead had 10 points but shot 3-of-17 from the field, emblematic of the rest of his team.
Houston shot just 28% from the floor, including 2-for-11 from the 3-point line. Iowa State shot 46% but never put the Cougars down by double-digits. The closest they got was nine points on Lipsey’s 3-pointer with about a minute remaining, but Cryer cut the lead to seven with a basket at the other end.
Key to Iowa State taking the lead was an 8-0 run within a 2:30 span that helped the Cyclone take a 17-11 lead with 9:11 left. Houston had made 2 of its last 12 shots to that point. ISU also drained five 3-pointers for the half, including two by Momcilovic.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
