KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Point guard Monté Morris just didn’t look like himself Thursday night.

The junior point guard sported a taped right shoulder to combat a lingering shoulder injury he suffered against Kansas last weekend, but still struggled throughout the game.

Iowa State (21-11) was unable to finish a second-half comeback and fell to Oklahoma (24-6) in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 Championship.

His stat line was an unrecognizable five points, six rebounds and two assists and he struggled with his shot, making only 1-of-9 attempts from the field.

“You look at the stat sheet,” Morris said. “The number[s] speaks for itself. I couldn’t help my team tonight.”

When specifically asked if his bad shoulder affected his play, he tried to avoid using it as an excuse.

“I mean, y’all saw the game,” Morris said. “I played the game, so no comment on it.”

There was something wrong, though. Morris said it had nothing to do with the Oklahoma defense and admitted the injury had a significant effect on him.

“I was in pain,” Morris said. “They were giving me the same looks I had when we played at Hilton and at OU. I just wasn’t myself.”

Morris averaged 16 points per game in the previous two contests against Oklahoma this season.

Georges Niang carried the offensive load with 31 points and Iowa State got double-digit scoring outputs from forward Deonte Burton, guard Matt Thomas and guard/forward Abdel Nader.

Morris played 38 minutes despite the injury. He was active and effective on defense, registering four steals, but he couldn’t find his touch offensively as he short-armed several of his patented floaters.

Morris said he took a shot to help numb the pain before the game, but the shot’s effectiveness decreased as the game went on.

“It definitely wore off when I came back in the second half,” Morris said. “That’s when I felt it. I didn’t want to get a shot again.”

Morris shrugged off the injury’s potential effect on the team’s success when Iowa State plays in the NCAA tournament. ISU coach Steve Prohm said Morris will be evaluated in the coming days, saying they will take Friday off before meeting Saturday.

Prohm wasn’t sure of the effect it had on Morris when he met with the media after the game.

“I don’t know,” Prohm said. “I can’t say. Obviously, you know, 1-of-9, when Monté only scores five points – he’s a guy, he and Georges, that makes us go. I haven’t talked to him about the injury.”

The plan going forward was to give plenty of rest and get Morris healthy before the NCAA tournament begins next Thursday.

“I will give him a day to be away and rested up more, and I will talk to him on Saturday,” Prohm said. “But he has been great for us all year. He’s a special talent, but we need him at full strength for us to be at the highest level we can be.”

Morris’ production has been down over the past few games, even before the injury, but Prohm didn’t seem too concerned about that going forward.

“I know his last couple of weeks, his numbers are down a little bit, but he’ll get it back,” Prohm said. “I’ve got worlds of confidence in Monté, and he knows that.”