Daily Staff Writer

Men

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Michael Nurse.

In his last game for Iowa State, Nurse played brilliantly on both the offensive and defensive ends, and he played the whole game until the last 9 seconds, when he fouled out. The senior guard made a huge three-pointer with 44 seconds left to cut Michigan State’s lead to three and keep the Cyclones in the game, at least momentarily. Nurse was the only player on either team to play consistently the whole game.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Second half, 1:58 left.

There were actually three crucial plays late in the second half, including an illegal screen called on Marcus Fizer with 3:58 left and the double foul on Paul Shirley and Charlie Bell with 3:42 left that sent Shirley out of the game. But the clincher came at 1:58 to play when Morris Peterson finished on an alley-oop from Mateen Cleaves that put the Spartans up by three. After that crowd-rousing play, the Cyclones started hurrying shots and never recovered.

STAT SHEET

Iowa State outrebounded the Spartans 38-27, but the Cyclones had 19 turnovers to Michigan State’s eight.

OFF THE BENCH

Paul Shirley was huge in the second half for the Cyclones. In only his second game back since breaking his foot, Shirley made key defensive stops in the paint during his 16 minutes.

Women

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Helen Darling.

The All-American point guard for the Lady Lions scored 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting and dished half a dozen assists.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Second half, 0:14 left.

Darling wrestled an offensive rebound away from Megan Taylor to a chorus of boos but no whistle. When her short jumpshot went in, the Lions were ahead to stay.

STAT SHEET

After shooting the lights in their last several games, the Cyclones were cold from the perimeter, connecting on just seven of 23 long-range attempts.

OFF THE BENCH

Freshman Lindsey Wilson provided the spark that the Cyclones needed in the second half, engineering their 12-point comeback and scoring 15.