With the energy swirling around in the passionate fan bases of Creighton University and Iowa State at the Wells Fargo Arena on Sunday, something unbelievable was bound to happen.

As the final buzzer sounded, ISU senior forward Jamie Vanderbeken let go of a near half-court shot that flew into the hoop, erupting the Des Moines venue and sending the Cyclones to a 91-88 victory.

Iowa State’s coach for the previous four years Greg McDermott stood on the Creighton sidelines with his team in disbelief. Fred Hoiberg, the current man on the sidelines for the cardinal and gold watched his team pile on each other in excitement at midcourt. 

“Lucky shot I guess,” Vanderbeken said through a big smile. “I hadn’t shot a three all game, so I had to get one off.”

Vanderbeken was held tight on offense by his old coach, but senior guard Diante Garrett wasn’t, as he scored a career high 28 points against the man that recruited him to Ames.

The crowd was split at the game site, which was still a home game for the Cyclones despite playing 30 minutes south of home. A back-and-forth offensive battle that saw both teams make over half their shots, the excitable crowd got a fitting ending.

“It was a great basketball game if you didn’t care who won,” McDermott said after the game. “Obviously I care who won, and the wrong team won for me.”

Lost in the shuffle and celebration on the court post-game was the lack of replay at the game, as television and photography crews at the game caught the final shot as still being in Vanderbeken’s hand at the final buzzer. By rule, it would have been disallowed and the game sent to overtime. Instead, the call on the court stood, and the Cyclones held onto the victory.

Creighton players declined comment, and McDermott simply stated, “we have no rear view mirror in our car.”

The Cyclones were down 12 points after a Creighton run at the start of the second half, and turned the game around from that point on, leading the way amidst a furious rally late in the game.

“I’m proud of the guys, they really responded well when we went down 12 in the second half,” Hoiberg said. “I got into them pretty good, and they really came out with energy.”

Sunday’s game featured five lead changes, and four ties, including the final tie with 1.6 seconds left. Creighton guard Antoine Young knocked down two free throws after recovering his own missed free throw just seconds before.

“I thought Antoine Young was the best player on the floor in the second half, he was terrific,” McDermott said. “What we talk about in practice, is those little things really add up when the game is tied with 1.6 seconds left. If they can learn from that, there’s not much lost in this.”

The Cyclones finished the game shooting 54 percent from the field, but just a 10-of-18 effort at the line extended the game past the point it likely should have gone.

“The thing that should have put the game away was free throw shooting there at the end,” Hoiberg said. “But you fight through those types of things. Jamie makes that shot there at the end and we walk away with a win.”

Vanderbeken’s shot marked the closing of a scintillating game, but other players’ individual performances made it close the entire way. All five Bluejays starters hit double digits, including McDermott’s son Doug. Young led the Jays with 21 points.

Iowa State also had five players in double digits, including Garrett’s career high, and a 19 point, 15 rebound effort from guard Jake Anderson, who still hadn’t practiced through the week due to the flu. Despite his illness, Anderson kept with the pace.

“It was fun, we were down the majority of the game, we pulled it together, and just fought back,” Garrett said. “Coach Fred got into us to pull it together and said we got to pick it up. Our energy kept going up and up.”

McDermott was the center of attention walking out of the tunnel, as the former Iowa State coach received a loud but mixed ovation from the Cyclone faithful, while getting plenty of support from his current Creighton fans.

“I don’t pay much attention. In the world of college coaching you’ve got to have a pretty short memory and not great hearing,” McDermott said. “It was different, because I’ve got tremendous respect for everybody that’s a part of that program. Several of the guys on the bench are very close friends of mine. I don’t want them to lose, and I’ll cheer for them every time we move forward.

Obviously it’s different when you walk in, and the cardinal and gold are cheering against you, instead of for you. Although there were probably a few of those when I was at Iowa State anyway. They’re happy tonight.” 

McDermott and Vanderbeken shared kind words after the game, and gave each other one last sign of support, as the two remain close despite the separation for the 6-foot-11 senior’s final season.

“It was just another game, but going against coach McDermott had a little more to it I guess, but it was nothing personal,” Vanderbeken said. “He’s a great coach and a great person. I just told him I loved him and thanks for everything.”

Hoiberg has led this Cyclone team to a 4-0 start, as the buzzer beater gave Creighton its first defeat of the season. All the cheers and jeers, and fandom aside, Iowa State’s famous coach just wants improvement and understood the impact of the game.

“Mac is a tremendous coach,” Hoiberg said. “When he was hired at Iowa State I was one of his biggest fans, biggest advocates, and I thought that was a great hire by Jamie [Pollard]. For whatever reason, it just didn’t work. Here he is at Creighton, and I think that was a great hire by Creighton. I think he’ll do a tremendous job.”

The Cyclones next hit the court on Wednesday, Nov. 24 to take on Kennesaw State at Hilton Coliseum. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.