MBB: ISU Comes Up Short Against TTU

[Jeremy]

MBB: ISU Comes Up Short Against TTU
Media Relations

AMES, Iowa—Iowa State had its chances, but could not convert in the end, falling to Texas Tech 63-61 Saturday night in Hilton Coliseum. The loss drops ISU to 15-15 overall and 6-10 in league play.

"This one stings," ISU head coach Greg McDermott said. "We did not play as well as we have practiced the last couple of days. Defensively, we did a good job on Jackson and not so great on Zeno. This is a team that is going to be in the NCAA Tournament and we had them on the ropes. We had an opportunity tonight and we did not get it done."

The game began as the Jiri Hubalek-Martin Zeno show. Hubalek scored ISU’s first 13 points and Zeno made nine of TTU’s first 10, as the Cyclones jumped out to a 13-10 lead. Seven-straight points by the Red Raiders behind a pair of baskets from Jarrius Jackson moved TTU out in front 17-13. Jessan Gray, ISU’s lone scholarship senior who was playing for the last time in Hilton Coliseum, stopped the Tech run with a trey to cut the lead to 17-16.

Tech moved ahead 27-21 with less than seven minutes remaining in the opening period, but ISU tied the score at 27-all with three-straight baskets in the post by Ross Marsden, Cory Johnson and Hubalek. A Wesley Johnson basket off a lob from Mike Taylor tied the score at intermission (29-29).

ISU jumped out to a 36-31 lead in the opening minutes of the second period behind a 3-pointer from Wesley Johnson and a conventional 3-point play from Hubalek, who converted the basket off a nice feed from Taylor. Tech battled back to take a 47-42 lead as ISU was mired in a scoring drought. The Cyclones missed nine-straight shots from the floor while going scoreless to let Tech take control. Hubalek finally ended the drought with a turnaround jumper in the paint to make it 47-44.

The Cyclones continued their cold shooting, as the Red Raiders grabbed a seven-point lead (57-50) with 2:46 left. Mike Taylor drilled a trey to cut the lead to 59-57 with 2:01 left, giving ISU new life. The Cyclones had a pair of chances to tie the game, but both attempts were off the mark. Jarrius Jackson put Tech up 62-57 with under a minute left, but Wesley Johnson drilled a trey in the corner with :29.6 remaining (62-60) to keep the Cyclones alive. Martin Zeno then dribbled the ball off his foot, giving the ball right back to the Cyclones. Rahshon Clark grabbed a miss and was fouled, making one of two shots at the charity stripe with :11.7 remaining to cut the lead to 62-61. ISU then fouled Charlie Burgess with :06 left. He made one of two shots, but ISU did not get a shot off at the other end. ISU shot just 29.6 percent in the second half.

Hubalek finished the game with 25 points, his second 20-point game of the season. He also added eight rebounds. Wesley Johnson chipped in with 16 points and six boards. Mike Taylor scored just five points and made just one field goal, a 3-pointer that increases his school record for consecutive games with a trey to 26.

Iowa State will travel to Oklahoma City to play in the Big 12 Championship, March 8-11. Iowa State will be the eighth seed in the tournament, playing ninth-seeded Oklahoma at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday (March 8).

Game Notes

- Bob Knight is now 10-1 against Iowa State all-time.
- Iowa State lost its first senior night since 2002, ending a four-game streak.
- Wesley Johnson grabbed six rebounds tonight...he now ranks sixth all-time on the Big 12 freshman rebounding list (239), moving past Nick Collison from Kansas (1999-2000).
- Corey McIntosh is 6-of-9 from 3-point range in his last four games.
- Wesley Johnson made two 3-pointers...he now ranks third on ISU’s freshman 3-pointers chart with 31.
- Jiri Hubalek tallied his second 20-point game of the season with 25 points.
- Mike Taylor made one 3-pointer...he has now made a 3-pointer in a school-record 26-consecutive games.
- ISU ended its three-game skid of getting outrebounded...ISU outboarded the Red Raiders, 42-32.