Basketball

Cyclones fall to UConn in the Sweet 16

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NEW YORK CITY — It had to end sometime.

With a final record of 28-8, Iowa State’s season came to a conclusion in Madison Square Garden. The third-seeded Cyclones looked out of sync for the first 35 minutes of the game and lost to the seventh-seeded UConn Huskies by an 81-76 final. 

Hot shooting early and often by UConn is what set the tone in this game, which put the Cyclones down by double digits early. On the back of senior Shabazz Napier, UConn went 7-for-12 from 3-point range in the first half and knocked down nine triples overall in the contest. Napier scored 19 in the game while DeAndre Daniels led the way for the Huskies with 27. 

Iowa State’s positive from the season-ending loss was the performance of New York native Dustin Hogue, who went off for a career-high 34 points on 15-of-19 shooting. He didn’t get much help though. 

Melvin Ejim’s 2-for-12 night didn’t help Iowa State’s cause. DeAndre Kane nearly recorded a triple-double for the Cyclones with 16 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. 

The Cyclones trailed by 17 with 14:19 to play but clawed their way back to pull within five in the game’s final minutes. UConn was clutch from the charity stripe when it mattered most, connecting on 20-of-22 free throws in the Husky win. 

Check out CycloneFanatic.com later tonight for complete coverage of the postgame press conference and locker room interviews. 

@cyclonefanatic