Iowa State men drop fifth straight

The losses are piling up for Iowa State, and it's looking like they are taking their toll on Coach Greg McDermott.

“The start of the game was a joke,” said an emotional McDermott, who watched his team drop its fifth straight game and eighth in nine tries against Big 12 Conference opponents last night, 69-64, to Oklahoma State at Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones (13-13, 2-9) fought back from a 20-point first-half deficit and led briefly midway through the second half before OSU's Obi Muonelo simply took over. The 6-5 senior guard scored 25 of his season-high 31 points after halftime, including 21 straight.

“There were some things we could have done different to make it harder on him, but you have to give him credit,” said ISU's Scott Christopherson. “He made some great plays and great shots.”

Christopherson, still fighting mononucleosis, finished with a career high 19 points but ISU couldn't overcome a 5-of-27 shooting performance by leading scorers Craig Brackins and Marquis Gilstrap.

Brackins had 14 points but was a miserable 3 of 17.

With 8 1/2 minutes to play in the first half, ISU had as many turnovers (8) as points and trailed 36-16 before ripping off 14 of the final 16 points before the break.

Oklahoma State (18-7, 6-5) held a nine-point lead with under 1:30 to play, but Christopherson had a shot to tie it at 67 with a 3-pointer that didn't go. Seconds later, Chris Colvin's inbounds pass went through Brackins' legs and out of bounds.

That was ISU's chance.

“It was open,” McDermott said.

-- Eric Petersen, correspondent