Iowa State hurts Colorado's NCAA hopes 95-90

AMES, Iowa (AP) - Nebraska visited Iowa State for the final time last weekend and left with a devastating loss on its NCAA tournament resume.

The Cyclones pulled that trick again Wednesday night - this time on the other Big 12 bubble team set to leave the conference.

Freshman Calvin Godfrey scored a career-high 23 points and the Cyclones beat Colorado 95-90, a loss that threatens to derail the Buffaloes' hopes for an NCAA tournament bid.

Scott Christopherson added 17 for the Cyclones (16-14, 3-12 Big 12), who have won two straight after dropping 10 in a row but remain in last place in the league.

"I knew what this game meant," Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. "Our players knew what it meant, the coaching staff knew what it meant and the whole nation knew what it meant. I am extremely disappointed."

Marcus Relphorde buried a 3-pointer to pull the Buffaloes within 83-81 with 2:03 left. But Jake Anderson answered with a 3, and Alec Burks missed a scoop on the other end.

Godfrey, who also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, punctuated his career night with a raucous slam with 37 seconds left.

Godfrey got a technical foul for the dunk, but it didn't end up hurting the Cyclones, who shot a blistering 70.4 percent in the second half.

"He had a beautiful game," Anderson said of Godfrey, who entered play averaging just 4.9 points and 5 rebounds. "That's the type of play that we need from him for the rest of the season for us to go further."

Burks scored 24 points and Relphorde 21 to lead Colorado (18-12, 7-8), which lost for the 19th time in its last 20 games at Hilton Coliseum.

The Buffaloes won only five of their 42 trips to Ames - but few visits to Iowa State will sting as much as the last one Colorado might ever make.

"We have to control what we can control, and that is our effort, our execution, our attitude," Boyle said. "This was a major opportunity that slipped through our fingers."

After blowing an early 12-point lead and scrambling back ahead by one at halftime, Iowa State got hot again to open the second half.

That cushion that would come in handy.

The Cyclones rattled off an 11-2 run, capped by a 3 from Christopherson, to go up 49-39 and force Boyle to call a quick timeout. But Christopherson soon buried another 3 that landed on the rim, spun like a top and dropped through to make it 54-42 Iowa State with 15:24 left.

The Buffaloes came right back, pulling within 59-55 behind a pair of Levi Knutson 3s, and they tied it at 64 with 9:14 to go.

Godfrey gave Iowa State the lead right back, cracking 20 points for the first time in the process. Diante Garrett and Anderson followed with tough layups in the paint to cap a 7-0 run.

Garrett and Anderson each scored 16 points and Jamie Vanderbeken added 15 with 10 boards for the Cyclones, who are now on a winning streak for the first time in two months.

"Sometimes it's tough when you lose close game after close game to keep your confidence up and continue to go out and play with passion and energy, but our guys have done that," Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said. "I just continue to look back at what could have been, had we won a few of those close games earlier."

Iowa State honored senior starters Garrett, Vanderbeken and Anderson before the game, and the Cyclones brought that emotion onto the floor in building an 18-6 lead. But the shots Iowa State was making early began to rim out - about the same time Colorado's tries finally started going down.

Colorado dominated the final 12 minutes of the first half, turning that 12-point deficit into a 37-34 lead. But Garrett banked in a floater just before the halftime buzzer to put Iowa State back ahead 38-37.

Knutson had 16 points off the bench and Cory Higgins added 15 for the Buffaloes. But they fell into the same trap that the Huskers did, suffering a loss to the league's worst team at the worst possible time.

Colorado now faces a crucial regular-season home finale against Nebraska - one that neither team can afford to lose."We have one regular-season game left and the (Big 12) tournament, and no one is going to be feeling sorry for us," Boyle said.