Iowa State collapses in 2nd half, loses at home to last-place Oklahoma

AMES — Trombones and tambourines.

As the final seconds wound down in No. 23 Iowa State’s stunning 61-50 Big 12 loss to last-place Oklahoma Saturday at Hilton Coliseum, only the band produced loud sounds.

The usually-boisterous fans simply tapped their toes toward the exits, shuffling off in stunned silence after the reeling Cyclones (17-11, 8-8 Big 12) lost for the fifth time in the past six games before a sellout crowd of 14,267.

“We’re gonna learn a lot about who we are as a group and who we are as people right now, and what our pride factor is based on what happened out there today,” ISU head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “We’ve got to dig deep. We’ve got to find a way and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

Cheers echoed throughout Hilton early, as the Cyclones surged to a 14-3 lead on center Robert Jones’ putback dunk with 12:53 left in the first half. The Sooners (14-15, 4-12) had more turnovers (six) than field goal attempts (five) at that point, but they managed to remain within striking distance and trailed by just five, at 28-23, entering halftime.

“Iowa State did what they do,” Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser said. “They came out and punched (us) in the face — not literally, but with their effort. I really liked our fight back to get it back within five at half. So that’s the first thing we could build on, our fight back. We’ve seen it in this building. We’ve seen it with this team. How hard they play. They get after you right out of the gate and sometimes it’s hard to adjust.”

Not on Saturday. And not for the Sooners, who went on a 19-4 run after halftime and led by double digits for most of the second half. Oklahoma drilled 7 of 13 3-point attempts in the final 20 minutes and five came in relatively rapid succession as ISU saw a five-point lead dissolve into a daunting 10-point deficit with 13:38 remaining.

The Sooners led by as many as 15 points in the second half as the Cyclones shot 26.9 percent from the field and lost at home for the second time in the past three games.

“On the defensive side, it wasn’t us,” said ISU senior Gabe Kalscheur, who scored a team-high 12 points. “So we have to look back at what we did wrong and just look ourselves in the mirrors. So, what can we do better and how can we flip the script?”

The Cyclones obviously need a feel-good plot twist immediately. They must turn around quickly and face West Virginia at 8 p.m. Monday in Hilton. The NCAA tournament bubble-bound Mountaineers started ISU’s recent slide with a 76-71 win on Feb. 8 in Morgantown.

“It’s the time of the year, especially for some of our older guys, like, we just need to step up and make plays,” said Otzelberger, whose team was outrebounded by double digits (39-to-27) for the first time in conference play. “We need to finish plays at the rim. We need to take great shots and we can’t let our offensive disappointment affect how we defend.”

The Cyclones have done that before, so they can do it again. But time is running short if they’re to make positive noise entering the Big 12 tournament and beyond.

“We don’t ever want to play like that, especially at home in front of our fans,” Otzelberger said. “We want to have a lot more pride.”

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