Nader, McKay come up big in Cyclones’ win against Kansas State

AMES - In crunchtime of a tied basketball game, Kansas State was setting up for an easy layup. Iowa State's Georges Niang had just missed a shot, and guard Jevon Thomas was pushing the ball up the floor with what appeared to be a clear path to the rim.

Well, it was clear until Abdel Nader flew up the court and entered Thomas' air space.

'Not only block it, but he kept it inbounds,” Coach Fred Hoiberg said. 'That allowed us to come down and get an offensive possession.”

No. 9 Iowa State used two free throws after that by Naz Long to go ahead for good in a 77-71 victory Tuesday night in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones (14-3, 4-1) used a 10-2 run during the last 4:04 to stop the Wildcats (11-8, 4-2), who had shot 51.7 percent from the field in the first half.

'I just knew I had to get back,” Nader said. 'If they had gone up on us right there, it would have been a big momentum swing so I sprinted back as hard as I could.”

Nader has seen his minutes fluctuate in Big 12 play as the seventh or eighth man in the ISU rotation, but poured in 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and six rebounds in 23 minutes against Kansas State.

'He came in and contributed and when you're making winning plays like that, it's hard to keep you off the floor,” Niang said. 'He did a good job for us and really helped us to this win.”

Also affecting the game on both ends of the floor was Jameel McKay, who had a career day and a breakthrough performance. He tied career highs in points (15) and rebounds (seven) while collecting three blocks.

After working into game shape early in Big 12 play, McKay played 26 minutes against the Wildcats and shot 50 percent (4 of 8) from the field. Iowa State has struggled as a team with free throws in recent games, but McKay made 7 of 9 as Iowa State shot 70.8 percent as a team.

'He's a lot better off now than he was that first game when he was sucking all the air out of the gym,” Hoiberg said.

The trademark of McKay is how much energy he expends when he's on the court, and the same could be said for the Cyclones collectively in the last eight minutes last night. Kansas State scored just seven points and two field goals in that span.

Nino Williams fueled the Kansas State offense, finishing with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting - scoring 14 points in the first half. But it was the intensity on defense that Hoiberg saw, particularly in the last four minutes, that allowed his team to pull out a home court victory.

'We just allowed them to be a little too comfortable,” Hoiberg said of K-State's early success. 'That urgency wasn't quite the same as it was in the last four minutes, diving on the floor, getting loose balls and getting the 50-50 balls.”

'We didn't want to drop one at home after last week against Kansas,” McKay said. 'We just knew it was gut-check time and we had to get stops and that was the focus.”