Cyclones stun Sooners

NCAA BASKETBALL : IOWA STATE 82, OKLAHOMA 77

Cyclones stun Sooners

Iowa State knocks off No.1 team

AMES (AP) — Another No. 1 team came to the state of Iowa.

Another No. 1 team left with a loss.

Georges Niang scored 22 points, Monte Morris added 20 and No. 19 Iowa State beat top-ranked Oklahoma 82-77 on Monday night, its first win over a No. 1 team since toppling Wilt Chamberlain’s Kansas Jayhawks in 1957.

Morris had a jumper, a key rebound and two free throws in the final 21 seconds for the Cyclones (14-4, 3-3 Big 12), who were actually slight favorites at home.

It was the third time a No. 1 team lost within Iowa’s borders this season. Northern Iowa beat North Carolina and Iowa beat Michigan State.

“Basketball is alive and well here. Basketball is at an elite level in Iowa,” said Niang, who grew up in Massachusetts.

Oklahoma, which moved to No. 1 earlier Monday for the first time in 26 years, didn’t go down quietly. Isaiah Cousins hit a 3 with 41 seconds left to tie the game at 75.

But Morris drilled a stepback jumper for the lead, and Abdel Nader’s free throws with 3.1 seconds to go put it out of reach. Buddy Hield scored 27 points and Cousins had a career-high 26 for the Sooners (15-2, 4-2). They could make a case for retaining the top spot with a win Saturday at No. 13 Baylor.

Oklahoma’s two losses came in two of the toughest places to play in the country. The Sooners fell in triple overtime at Kansas in arguably the best game of the season so far.

Iowa State nearly beat Oklahoma on the road in the Big 12 opener earlier this month. The Cyclones led for 30 minutes, but Morris missed a wide-open 3 with 6 seconds left and the Sooners escaped 87-83.

This one was just as entertaining. This time, Morris finished off the Sooners.

Matt Thomas drilled a 3 early in the second half to give Iowa State its first double-digit lead, 48-38.

But the Cyclones came up empty on a few possessions that just might have put the game out of reach, and the Sooners rallied to jump back ahead 59-57 on a long, shot clock-beating 3 from Dante Buford.

Iowa State responded with 10 straight points, a run highlighted by Niang casually drilling a 3 to beat the shot clock for a 67-59 lead Nader scored 20 points for the Cyclones, who won despite allowing Oklahoma to hit 10 of 16 3s in the second half.