Seniors push No. 24 Iowa State past Oklahoma State 86-83

Iowa State senior Monte Morris addresses the crowd during his senior speech following the game against OSU Feb. 28. Morris finished with 12 points in Iowa State’s 86-83 win. 

Ryan Young
February 28, 2017

With nine minutes left in the game on Tuesday night at Hilton Coliseum, Monté Morris looked over to the media table.

“I’m going to get it. Triple-double,” he mouthed.

He had called his shot.

Over the next nine-minute span, Morris and No. 24 Iowa State (20-9, 12-5 Big 12) struggled to put away Oklahoma State (20-10, 9-8) — a team that had won five straight games before Tuesday.

Yet it was Morris — who put up 12 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, just one shy of the triple-double mark on senior night — who came up with a steal with less than 10 seconds left in the game. That steal resulted in an easy layup on the next play to push Iowa State to a five-point lead.

From there, the Cyclones held on, coming up with an 86-83 win.

“Senior nights are tough, man,” Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. “I love senior nights. I’m just so happy. I just was praying that we’d win for these guys. They had an amazing career here, and I just want to go celebrate and listen to these guys talk.”

Iowa State’s four starting seniors — Morris, Naz Mitrou-Long, Matt Thomas and Deonte Burton — took their final home game at Hilton Coliseum in full stride. Thomas put up 25 points, shooting 7-of-11 from behind the arc. Burton dropped 20. Mitrou-Long added 17.

“We haven’t had them all four play great in one night,” Prohm said. “Tonight we did that and we beat a really good team.”

Oh, and don’t forget about Morris’ near triple-double.

“[Morris has] been great defensively for us,” Prohm said. “I’m proud of him. He’s made a statement I think over the last couple weeks.”

Following Tuesday night, Iowa State has won its sixth straight game. It now sits alone in second place in the Big 12 Conference with just one game left in the regular season — a bout on Friday in Morgantown, West Virginia, against No. 11 West Virginia.

A win there would all but assure the Cyclones a spot as the 2-seed in the Big 12 Championships, which start next week in Kansas City, Missouri, and mark their third win over a ranked opponent in a month.

That, Prohm said, is a credit to his seniors.

“We’ve got great senior leadership,” Prohm said. “We’ve got great kids. I think we’ve grown up a lot.”