Iowa State wins another thriller, beats Oklahoma 67-65 in Big 12 semifinals

Iowa State is getting good as this last-second thing.

One night the Cyclones buried a buzzer-beating jumper. The next, their opponent missed a point-blank layup that would have sent the game to overtime.

Iowa State survived that miss by Oklahoma’s Ryan Spangler on Friday and advanced to the Big 12 Tournament title game with a 67-65 victory over the Sooners.

The Cyclones will meet Kansas in the championship game at 5 p.m. Saturday.

“The comeback kids strike again?” said Iowa State’s Georges Niang, “No. We believe in each other and have the will to fight and keep fighting until the clock hits zero.”

The final dramatics were set up when Niang made the second of two free throws with 9.7 seconds remaining.

Oklahoma’s plan was simple: Get the ball to the basket quickly, and if the shot missed have one of its bigs near the hoop for the stickback.

That’s precisely what happened. Jordan Woodard drove and got caught on the baseline. Two Iowa State defenders collapsed around him, leaving Spangler open.

Woodard got him the ball, and Spangler, a 58.5 percent shooter, went up, probably too quickly. He was alone under the basket but shot the open layup too hard. It bounced off the backboard and teammate Buddy Hield couldn’t chase it down quickly enough to get off a follow shot.

Iowa State, 24-8, had survived a game in which neither team could pull away.

A night earlier, Monte Morris’ 16-footer at the buzzer gave the Cyclones a two-point victory over Texas. Friday, the Cyclones led by eight with 12 minutes remaining, but Oklahoma caught them 6 minutes later and took a four-point lead.

A big sequence came with 2 1/2 minutes remaining. Jameel McKay’s follow slam of Niang’s miss gave Iowa State a three-point lead, and McKay’s block of Woodard’s drive set up a jumper by Niang that extended the lead.

But Iowa State wasn’t out of the woods.

The Sooners, 22-10, got a layup from Spangler that made it 66-63, and Niang missed a fadeaway moments later. TaShawn Thomas’ offensive rebound and score cut Oklahoma’s deficit to one with 12 seconds remaining.

Oklahoma jumped to a huge lead early, just like the last time these teams met. On March 2 in Ames, the Sooners led 37-18 at halftime, and the margin swelled to 21 with about 19 minutes remaining.

Iowa State staged an improbable comeback that night. On Friday, the Cyclones started their charge earlier.

This time the Sooners’ lead was 21-10 with 9 minutes left in the half. An unlikely source shook Iowa State from its doldrums.

Abdel Nader, who averages 5.5 points, scored inside and completed a three-point play. Moments later, he added two free throws, and the large and loud contingent of Iowa State fans in the Sprint Center came to life.

Iowa State made it all the way back on Naz Long’s three-pointer with 1:32 remaining, and took a brief lead on a Long steal and drive.

The Sooners got it tied 29-29 at halftime when Hield knocked down a pair of free throws.

Iowa State had taken Oklahoma’s early punch, and unlike the game two weeks ago, fought back sooner.

Iowa State and Kansas split their regular-season series, with each winning on their home floor. They’ve won the last two Big 12 tournaments.

“It’s an exciting feeling, especially knowing that we’ve got a chance to win the Big 12 Tournament,” McKay said.

This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 10:57 PM with the headline "Iowa State wins another thriller, beats Oklahoma 67-65 in Big 12 semifinals."