By Wendell Barnhouse
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Call ‘em the Comeback ‘Clones.
Iowa State, which 10 days ago spotted Oklahoma a 22-point lead with 15 minutes to play but rallied for a 77-70 victory, fell behind by 16 points late in the first half but again staged an epic comeback. This one was more dramatic.
Sophomore Monte’ Morris scored on a pull-up jumper from just inside the 3-point line with the ball tickling the twine as the clock went to 0:00. Morris finished with a career-high 24 as No. 2 seed Iowa State edged No. 7 seed Texas, 69-67, in a quarterfinal game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Championship Thursday.
“At the time you are just hoping and prayin' it goes in,” Morris said of his final shot. “I got a great look at it and got the ball in for us and we was able to walk off the court with a victory.”
Teammate Abdel Nader explained it this way: “Big-time players make big-time shots.”
The Cyclones (23-8), the defending champions, advance to Friday’s semifinals and will face No. 3 seed Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated No. 6 seed Oklahoma State, 64-49, in the last quarterfinal game of the day. Iowa State and Oklahoma split the season series, with each team winning on its home court.
The Longhorns (20-13) led the entire game … until Morris eluded DeMarcus Holland, UT’s best defender, to hit the game winner. Texas will spend Selection Sunday sweating its bubble status.
"We can't really control anything right now. We are who we are,” Holland said. "If we go to Big Dance, we'll be a team that competes with anybody in the country."
That was certainly on display against Iowa State for the first 36 minutes. The Longhorns were patient but efficient. Three times in the first half, UT ran the shot clock down and scored – twice making 3-pointers.
“Still not sure how we won,” Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said. “I will say this, our guys hung together and showed great resolve and found a way when it wasn't looking very good out there.”
With 95 percent of the Sprint Center (aka Hilton Coliseum South) screaming for the Cyclones, Iowa State made several runs at the Longhorns in the second half but every time the lead was cut to single digits, Texas had an answer.
“We played our hearts out,” Texas point guard Isaiah Taylor said. “I just want to commend all my teammates, my coaches. Our coaching staff put us in a great position to win a game, and unfortunately we couldn't pull it out.”
Holland’s two free throws with 3:56 remaining – after Texas had successfully broken Iowa State’s full-court press – provided a 67-57 lead. After that, it was all Morris and Iowa State.
Morris followed two free throws with a steal that led to two free throws by Georges Niang (22 points). After Taylor missed a 3-pointer, the Cyclones scrapped for an offensive rebound that allowed Dustin Hogue to drill a second-chance three that made it 67-64 with 2:18 remaining.
Following a UT turnover for a 10-second backcourt violation, Morris made a three to tie it with 1:47 left. The Longhorns missed three shots before Hogue secured the rebound that led to Morris’ hero shot.
“I just hate it for our guys, because, again, it got down to where, again, we made some mental mistakes,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “We just didn't finish it.”