In Iowa State’s second straight Big 12 Tournament championship game appearance, the Cyclones looked to dethrone Texas for one final time Tuesday night before the Longhorns become members of the SEC.
This ended up not being the case for Iowa State, as the Longhorns cruised their way to one final Big 12 Conference championship win 70-53, as the Cyclones could not come back from their slow start in the first half.
First-half troubles lead to Iowa State’s eventual demise
For a Cyclone team that had not been known recently to come out struggling to start the game, this ended up being the case for Iowa State which eventually led to its fall to Texas on Tuesday night.
Both offensively and defensively, the Cyclones struggled to keep up with a Longhorn team that was not going to leave the Big 12 Conference with a loss, as Iowa State was outscored 40-21 heading into halftime.
The 21 points the Cyclones put up came as a season-low for a team that had been known recently to start off games at a slower pace. Iowa State knew it was going to be tough to get things to go its way, as Texas has held a stout defense throughout the season.
Coming into this game, the Longhorns were ranked top-four in the conference in scoring defense (58.2) and opponent field goal percentage (38.2), which led to their eventual conference title win against the Cyclones.
“We dug ourselves a hole, and a lot of times this season we’ve been able to climb out of that, but tonight was not one of those nights, Crooks said. “We can’t continue to put ourselves in those bad situations.”
Iowa State let Texas put up 40 points in the first half which was highlighted by a 14-0 run the Longhorns held over the Cyclones for eight minutes.
While Iowa State had not been known to hold teams to low-scoring numbers, the team struggled to keep the top-scoring offense in the conference in check during the first half.
Turnover issues linger for the Cyclones
Earlier in the season, Iowa State experienced the usual ups and downs of having a young roster compared to the conference-winning team the season prior.
The glaring issue during this process that kept the Cyclones from fully reaching their full potential came from the turnover statistic. This season, Iowa State only had one game all season in which it had less than 10 turnovers in a game.
Against Texas, the Cyclones finished the game with 19 total turnovers. The Longhorns had seven total turnovers in this game, as the more experienced team had fewer issues controlling their own possessions.
Going back to Texas’ defense, it was not a surprise to see this elite defense put up the numbers it did against Iowa State, as the Longhorns finished with nine steals and five blocks that led to the high turnover rate.
Iowa State guard Emily Ryan previously faced some members of this Texas team last year when the Cyclones took down the Longhorns and accredited them for the success they had in the championship game.
“They’re a super talented team,” Ryan said. “Hats off to them and the way they showed up ready to play.”
In what has caused issues for Iowa State team this season, the turnover bug ended up being one of the final nails in the coffin for the Cyclones.
Despite the loss, Iowa State’s future only shines brighter
While the Cyclones could not pull off magic against a stout Texas team Tuesday night, a lot has been said about the team’s performance this season.
It already presented an immense challenge for this young Iowa State team to beat a Longhorn team that had previously dominated the Cyclones earlier this season 81-60 in Austin, Texas.
But to recap in what was dubbed by some as a “rebuilding” year after losing most of its roster following the end of last season, Iowa State defied the odds to get back to the conference championship game.
It especially helped to have two of the five new freshmen, Crooks and Addy Brown, make a huge impact on the team in many ways as the Cyclones finished 20-11 on the season.
“[Iowa State] embraced the Iowa State way of doing things,” Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said. “They’ve never made excuses and accomplished a lot of things that very few people thought they could.”
As Iowa State awaits a name-calling from the NCAA committee, the team will have a lot to look forward to with a young team that is only getting started.
