Cyclones add to trophy case

Jeff Stell

The ISU men’s basketball team won its second straight Big 12 Conference crown Saturday, but this year did so at home, prompting a postgame celebration at Hilton Coliseum. Saturday’s 86-73 victory over Nebraska clinched the second consecutive outright title for Iowa State. The partying started immediately after the final seconds ticked away as Richard Evans raced into the crowd to find his parents.A trophy presentation, red and yellow confetti, fireworks, a frenzied crowd of 14,092 and the Cyclone players cutting down the nets were all elements of the festivities.”It was special,” ISU head coach Larry Eustachy said. “Last year we had to do it on the road. We went to cut the nets down and the security guards almost arrested us, so this year was special to be able to do it in front of our people.”The Cyclone players left the court for a short period of time after the conclusion of the game, but came back sporting red Big 12 Conference champs T-shirts.Big 12 Commissioner Tim Allen then awarded the Cyclones with the Big 12 trophy, followed by speeches from Eustachy and center Paul Shirley.And being Senior Day for the five Cyclone seniors, many family members and friends were on hand which made the victory even sweeter for the players.”Oh yeah, it was great just to be able to win it in Ames on our home court after all the work we put in.” Kantrail Horton said. “It felt great to have my mom here to see it all happen.”The Cyclones now have five days off before their next action Friday in the first round of the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City.”It was fun,” Jamaal Tinsley said. “It’s going to last for a day or two but then after that we got to put that behind us and move on.”