Iowa State rallies past Texas Tech in Big 12 opener with four-guard lineup

AMES — Steve Prohm went with his gut.

His intuition was to go with a seldom-used lineup, at one of the tipping points in the game, and hope for a spark. His lineup of two veterans and three first-year Iowa State players didn't let him down.

In fact, the lineup of Monte Morris, Naz Mitrou-Long, Donovan Jackson, Nick Weiler-Babb and Solomon Young was the combination that powered the Iowa State men's basketball team to a 63-56 win against Texas Tech in its Big 12 opener.

'(Michigan State coach) Tom Izzo said it best the other night, who's producing? We need to play people that produce,' Prohm said. 'Solomon Young was producing tonight. Donovan Jackson numbers, they don't awestruck you, but he competed.

'Naz started getting his swagger back a little bit. Monte made a big 3 in transition. Nick Babb was our wild card, we need him to be good everyday so we can go four guards.'

The Cyclones (9-3, 1-0) got down as many as 14 points — once in the first half — and were getting beat on the boards midway through the second half as the Red Raiders (11-2, 0-1) opened up a 48-34 lead.

After Young was inserted into the lineup, Prohm stuck with the same five guys for 12:36 while ISU went on a 16-0 run to grab its first lead of the game with 4:29 to play. With the smaller lineup, Iowa State got out in transition and had 14 points off 15 TTU turnovers.

Texas Tech shot just 26.9 percent in the second half and was outscored 38-21. The Cyclones ended the game on a 29-8 run after trailing by 14. The win was Iowa State's eighth in the last six seasons when trailing by 14 points or more in the second half.

'We've been saying that all year we're going to really rely on (the four-guard lineup) at some time and that was the deal breaker right there,' Mitrou-Long, who had a game-high 19 points, said. 'We just buckled down and we bought in on boxing out and playing defense and that's what won us the game.'

Morris had 14 points with six assists in 39 minutes with no turnovers, but it was the three bench guys in that comeback stretch that complimented the veterans. Young, Weiler-Babb and Jackson had plus-minuses of 19, 18 and 16 respectively and while the stats didn't necessarily translate to the page, they all found their role within the lineup.

'When I get out there I just try to win for the team,' Young said. 'Especially for the seniors, it means a lot to them. It means a lot to me, too, but it means something more knowing I can help them make their last year go the best it can.'

Jackson was the facilitator alongside Morris, Weiler-Babb was the aggressor that put pressure on the rim and Young held down Texas Tech senior Anthony Livingston. Livingston went scoreless the final 13:07 and finished with 13 points and six rebounds while Keenan Evans led the Red Raiders with 15 points.

'He meant everything, him battling down there and boxing out,' Morris said of Young. 'He was talking out there and it was a big step for him. He grew up. He's not a freshman in the second half of the year. We're looking for great things for him later down the line.'