Monte Morris leads Iowa State to its third Big 12 tourney title in four years

Don’t tell Iowa State coach Steve Prohm that conference tournaments are meaningless.

Not with the energy the Cyclones’ displayed in their 80-74 victory over West Virginia to capture the Big 12 Tournament championship. Not with the throaty following at Sprint Center, which had to be at least fourth-fifths occupied by cardinal-and-gold clad fans.

“These things mean a lot because you’re playing for championships,” Prohm said.

That makes three in four years for Iowa State, and more hardware for a heavily populated senior class, led by point guard Monte Morris.

Kansas wins Big 12 championships, an incredible 13 straight. And the Jayhawks are no slouches in the tournament, having won 10 of them.

But the recent years have belonged to the Cyclones, under two coaches. Fred Hoiberg oversaw the 2014 and 2015 championships, and Prohm now has one in his second season.

Morris, who led the Cyclones with 17 points and was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, recalled the coaching transition that wasn’t always smooth. Hoiberg was the wildly popular hometown hero, the “Mayor,” who departed for the Chicago Bulls. Prohm was the guy from Murray State who wasn’t Hoiberg.

“That guy has so much adversity on his shoulders…and everybody was giving him a hard time when we would lose games,” Morris said. “But he came to work every day and started to turn things around.

“Fred had a great run here, but everybody knows Fred probably won’t come back.”

Prohm inherited a solid team with players like Morris, Matt Thomas and Deonte Burton, who had just transferred to the program. But the Cyclones finished sixth last year and lost in their Big 12 Tournament opener.

There was pressure.

“Fred did an amazing job putting this program back to an elite level,” Prohm said. “Replacing him, it wasn’t easy, a lot tougher than I probably would ever imagine coming here. But I think he’s helped make me a better coach.”

Iowa State needed a calming presence early, falling behind 16-8. West Virginia, which had shot it horribly in the semifinal victory over Kansas State, had found its stroke and was keeping the crowd silent early.

Iowa State (23-10) didn’t panic and found a spark from its bench. The reserved scored 18 straight points, and when Darrell Bowie completed a three-point play to give the Cyclones a 23-22 lead, they never trailed after that.

Morris took over the final minutes of the first half.

In a short sequence he stuck a short-range jumper, swished a fade-away jumper over Jevon Carter, the Big 12 defensive player of the year, and completed the flurry in the final seconds with a three-pointer to give Iowa State a 35-29 halftime lead.

Morris even profited from a miss. His first field-goal try of the second half a three-pointer that fell short. But the ball bounded back to him and finished at the rim.

The playmaker that he is, Morris said when he’s shooting like that, it’s a team approach.

“I take my hat off to my coaching staff, these guys next to me and every guy in that locker room giving me the confidence to shoot the ball, telling me to keep being aggressive because that’s when we are at our best,” Morris said.

West Virginia is less than its best when it’s not forcing turnovers, dominating the boards or shooting a decent percentage from the free-throw stripe. All worked against the Mountaineers on Saturday.

The turnovers were even, Iowa State won the board battle and West Virginia went eight for 17 from the line.

“You know I always thought if you go miss two free throws, I just as soon the punt it up into the bleachers,” Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins said.

Both teams are safely in the NCAA Tournament and will be wearing home jerseys for the first game. West Virginia (26-8) entered the weekend projected as a No. 3 or 4 seed, Iowa State a No. 6 or 7. The Cyclones could move up.

Wherever Iowa State lands, and as much as they enjoyed savoring Saturday’s triumph, it’s on to next week.

“There is more story to write,” Prohm said. “That’s what I told them in the locker room. Stay humble and let’s get ready for next week.

No. 23 IOWA STATE 80

No. 11 WEST VIRGINIA 74

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .542, FT .667. Three-Point Goals: 6-19, .316 (Burton 2-2, Thomas 2-3, Jackson 1-2, Morris 1-7, Mitrou-Long 0-5). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 2 (Bowie, Burton). Turnovers: 11 (Burton 3, Mitrou-Long 3, Bowie 2, Weiler-Babb 2, Morris). Steals: 11 (Burton 3, Weiler-Babb 3, Mitrou-Long 2, Morris 2, Jackson). Technical Fouls: Burton, 00:33 second. Fouled Out: Burton.

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .518, FT .471. Three-Point Goals: 8-23, .348 (J.Carter 4-8, Miles 2-5, Bolden 1-2, Phillip 1-2, Ahmad 0-1, Adrian 0-2, West 0-3). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 6 (Konate 3, Ahmad, J.Carter, Macon). Turnovers: 13 (Ahmad 5, Adrian 2, Konate 2, J.Carter, Macon, Miles, Phillip). Steals: 5 (Adrian 2, Ahmad, Bolden, Macon). Technical Fouls: coach Bob Huggins, 15:46 second; Myers, 00:33 second. Fouled Out: None.

Half: Iowa State 35-29. Att: 18,972.

This story was originally published March 11, 2017 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Monte Morris leads Iowa State to its third Big 12 tourney title in four years."