ISU men’s hoops not dwelling on buzzer beater

Jeremiah Davis

It was a good moment. It was a fun moment. It was a moment ISU men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg wanted his team to celebrate Wednesday night.

But now Hoiberg wants his team to move on, taking lessons from the close losses to No. 5 Missouri and No. 7 Kansas and the win against Oklahoma State, looking ahead to the rest of the Big 12 season.

“I’m confident our guys will get over it right away,” Hoiberg said. “They should’ve been excited about it last night; it was a great game. … We’ve learned from [the close games]. That’s the great thing about this team. Whether you win or lose the game, we’re finding ways to learn from it and get better.”

For much of the early part of the season, Hoiberg seemed to make pleas to his players in saying “good teams find a way to win close games.”

In finding a way to beat Oklahoma State after trailing 66-60 with 3:06 left in the game, Hoiberg said the Cyclones (13-5, 3-2 Big 12) showed growth. It also revealed growth in one particular player as a leader of the team.

“It was very important [for our growth],” Hoiberg said. “The guy that I thought really pulled us together was Scott [Christopherson]. He came over in the huddle when we got down a little bit, and he said, ‘Guys we are not losing this game.’ … That shows growth on his end, where in the past we might not have had anybody say anything.”

Christopherson said Wednesday night and reiterated on Thursday he was most proud of how the team came together and found a way to win in a situation they might not have in the past.

The senior guard still smiled about the buzzer-beater — which was his second SportCenter top play within seven days — but like his coach said, there were bigger things to take away from the win.

“The shot gets a lot of attention,” Christopherson said. “But I was really proud of the way we fought the last three minutes to get back into the game. In the past, every team I’ve played on here we’ve folded in that position. It was just a great team effort.”

Now, heading to Lubbock, Texas, to take on Texas Tech, Hoiberg said the team needs to “take the right mindset” with them on the road and be prepared for what road games bring in the Big 12.

Guard Tyrus McGee, who Hoiberg said was the catalyst of the OSU win, said team morale got a boost with the game-winner from Christopherson, but that it should not have been needed in the first place.

He also said the recent stretch of games can be something the Cyclones learn from.

“We lost two games, and Scotty hit a game-winner [and] it could build our confidence up,” McGee said. “But we shouldn’t have had that game so close. We need to continue to get better as we go on in the conference. It’s a very good lesson [for Saturday]. This Saturday we play Texas Tech, and there’s no way we should let them play close to us, to be honest.”

The Cyclones tip off against the Red Raiders (7-10, 0-5) at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.