The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
20-13, 8-10
Iowa State
23-8, 12-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 36 | 31 | 67 |
| Iowa State | 25 | 44 | 69 |
Buzzer beater lifts No. 13/15 Iowa State over Men’s Basketball, 69-67
03.12.2015 | Men's Basketball
Jonathan Holmes led the Longhorns with 15 points and nine rebounds.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Jonathan Holmes recorded 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks but the Texas Longhorns fell to the No. 13/15 Iowa State Cyclones, 69-67, after a buzzer-beating jumper by Monte Morris on Thursday evening at Sprint Center in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship quarterfinals.
Texas (20-13, 8-10 Big 12), who led by as much as 16 in the first half, never trailed in the game until the final bucket by the point guard from Iowa State (23-8, 12-6 Big 12). It was the first buzzer-beating loss for the Longhorns since falling to Wake Forest in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 18, 2010.
Isaiah Taylor scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half and dished out five assists, while Javan Felix chipped in 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Connor Lammert and Kendal Yancy each scored eight points, while Cameron Ridley added six points, eight rebounds and four blocks.
The Horns converted 10-of-22 from beyond the arc, while out-rebounding the Cyclones, 37-30. The Texas defense held ISU to a .407 shooting percentage (24-of-59) and swatted eight shots.
The Longhorns started out hot from deep, as four different players drained at least one 3-pointer in the game's first eight minutes. Felix had consecutive treys in the stretch, which sparked a 14-0 run and gave Texas a 29-14 lead. For nearly 10 minutes (9:45), the defense forced the Cyclones into 11-straight missed field goals.
After building its largest lead of the half at 32-16 with 2:32 remaining, Iowa State cut the deficit to 11 (36-25) heading into the locker room. The Texas defense has held its last three opponents to 26 first-half points or less. The Cyclones came into the game as the eighth-highest scoring team in the country, averaging 79.3 points per game, but was held to its second-lowest first-half points this season.
Coming out of the half, Iowa State used a 17-8 run to trim the lead to six at 54-4, with 10:42 left. Taylor then scored nine straight points for Texas to bring the lead back to 10 (63-53) with 5:57 remaining.
After a pair of Holland free throws at the 3:56 mark, UT held a 67-57 advantage. But Iowa State closed the game on a 12-0 run, capped by Morris' jumper at the buzzer, to advance to the tournament semifinals.
Morris led the Cyclones with 24 points on a 9-of-15 shooting performance (4-of-5 from deep) and grabbed five steals. Georges Niang added 22 points.
The Longhorns will learn their postseason fate on Sunday, March 15. CBS will televise the NCAA Basketball Championship Selection Show at 5 p.m. Central.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
#13/15 Iowa State 69, Texas 67
Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Quarterfinals
March 12, 2015
Sprint Center (Kansas City, Mo.)
Attendance: 18,972
Team Notes
UT fell to 45-38 all-time in conference tournament play. The Horns are 24-19 in 19 appearances at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.
Texas dropped to 22-17 in 17 appearances at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship under Rick Barnes. The Horns fell to 12-4 in Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship quarterfinal games under Barnes.
The only lead Iowa State held for the entire game came after Monte Morris hit his game-winner at the buzzer. Texas led for a total time of 34:13. The game was tied for 5:45.
UT dropped a game at the buzzer for the first time since against Wake Forest in the 2010 NCAA Tournament First Round in New Orleans (March 18, 2010).
Reached double figures in scoring (10 points) for the 14th time this season and 43rd time in his career (98 games)
Reached double figures in scoring (team-high points) for the 16th time this season and 57th time in his career (126 games)
Moved into 24th place on UT's all-time scoring list (1,151 points). He passed both James Thomas (1,149) and Carlton Cooper (1,146) during tonight's game.
Tied his season high with four blocked shots
Reached double figures in scoring (13 points) for the 16th time this season (23 games) and 43rd time in his career (58 games)
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS COACH RICK BARNES
DEMARCUS HOLLAND
ISAIAH TAYLOR
THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Rick Barnes of Texas and call on you for your thoughts on tonight's game.
COACH BARNES: Hate it for our guys, because I really thought they played a hard game and obviously when the game is over there are things that you think, I could have helped them a little bit more.
But I really thought there were four crucial plays that hurt us, the two times out in the open court where we should have pulled the ball out and one time we didn't, it came off our chest. The other time we fouled and they went down and scored. And then not getting in, the 10-second violation, those four plays.
I can understand, you like to hold the ball there for that last shot if you could, but I could understand Javan shooting it with the rhythm he was into. Give them credit, one possession, I think they ran down three balls.
We just didn't finish it. Again, I'm proud of my guys. I think that if you're talking about looking at our team from an eyeball test in this atmosphere today, which obviously was like a home game for Iowa State, and the poise our guys played with and the way we did some things, I'm really proud of my team.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach?
Q. Seemed like the last seven, eight minutes the offense really slowed down and that seemed to be intentional, where you weren't trying to push it to the last few seconds of the shot clock. Can you explain that?
COACH BARNES: A lot of it was Isaiah, he played his heart out and he was out there the whole time. We were putting a lot on him and I really had confidence in him because I felt like he really had good command of where he was and what he was doing.
So the fact is, you know, they play such a packed defense in there, and we could run, could have kept running motion and those-type things, but I didn't want to just make him run unnecessary motion right there. But you go back to the chances where we did run, those two decisions in the open court, those were not two good decisions right there.
Again, they're an outstanding team and we're an outstanding team and I just hate it for our guys, because, again, it got down to where, again, we made some mental mistakes. Again, the two plays at the end where Connor turned it over throwing it in and Saiah's 10-second call and I should have called time-out but I thought he was going to bring it across.
Those are two big plays obviously, and I understand Javan shooting it when he did because of the rhythm, if it goes in it's a whole different situation. But it didn't and they came down and made a shot.
Q. For Isaiah, when they went to the full-court press, I don't know if that caught you guys off guard but that triggered everything for them. Could you talk about that and just the 10-second call, what happened on that play?
ISAIAH TAYLOR: When they went to the press, obviously we're going to play a slower game. You can't just necessarily fast break a team that presses, you have to take it easy and make smart decisions.
On that 10-second call, that's me as a point guard, that's nobody else's fault. That's my fault. I've got to know the clock situation of the game and I have to get it past half-court.
Q. Demarcus, it looked like you were playing pretty good defense on that last play. Can you go through what you saw and the shot he hit on you?
DEMARCUS HOLLAND: Well, he was trying to get ahead of steam. Obviously, trying to clear it out for him to get a shot and the other guys try to rebound it. I tried as hard as I could to stop him from getting to the basket. He made a great move, I tried to contest it, and he made the shot.
Q. For both you guys, how big of an opportunity did you feel like slipped through your hands tonight?
ISAIAH TAYLOR: We played our hearts out. 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.
What happens from here on out is not our decision, but if you guys don't -- it's not our decision to say if we make the NCAA Tournament or not, but I think based on our effort tonight and our past games I think we would be a good team to compete for a spot.
DEMARCUS HOLLAND: Can you ask the question again?
Q. What do you think about the opportunity and where you guys are going forward now?
DEMARCUS HOLLAND: Going forward, I mean, we can't really control anything right now. We are who we are right now. We dropped one today that would have helped us out a lot. I'm confident whatever tournament we go to and if we go to the Big Dance, that we will be a great team that can compete with anybody in the country. I think our whole team believed that and our whole coaching staff believed that.
THE MODERATOR: Guys, we will let you return to the locker room. Thank you. Questions for Coach.
Q. Rick, in analyzing the last four minutes, did you notice anything with your team once they went to the press to try to shake you guys up, did you sense any stress or anything?
COACH BARNES: No, I didn't. And the press didn't catch us off guard. We had our press offense on. Isaiah got down the floor one time and obviously got fouled. It shouldn't have hurt us, the 10-second call, I thought he saw it. He was right down the middle. Again, I've looked at myself, hindsight, yeah, I could call time-out there, but I thought he was going to bring it, because he had been doing that.
The turnover, we just threw it away. That one, we can't do and you go back to the two open court plays, those are big plays. We want to be aggressive, but if you go in there you gotta get something. And like I said, on one of them, Cam fouled and they went down and made 2 with the clock stopped.
But, again, I thought our composure, again, I didn't think we stressed. We kept talking about, we gotta win the game, we can't just play it out. That's how fine of a line it is. It really is. You go back -- I think one play we even had the ball and we lost it and I think we came up with a rebound -- I got blocked on that one, but I thought we had the ball and they came out with it.
But there were a lot of good things. I really love my team, the poise and the way we win. I thought the question was a great question about the pace. And it was Isaiah because we had been riding him pretty hard. I thought he did a good job. Again, they, as much as anybody, forced a lower possession game because we weren't going to settle early. I thought at the start of the game even though we hit some threes, we told our guys we can't fall in love with that, early in the clock. We can get those shots any time we want at the end. So we were probing and doing some things and we felt like we could drive from the top. Hard to drive from the side because of the way they play defense, but, again, I am proud of our guys.
I'm disappointed. Today if you're watching this game you look at Texas and think, wow, in some ways, where has that been? We know, we struggled throughout the year with rhythm and having everybody.
You look at -- again, in this environment I thought we were composed and played, I think our team is -- I love the way we are playing right now. And, again, it's tough, losing the way we did, because just the turnovers in the last four minutes really.
Q. Rick, after Connor grabbed that last rebound of Isaiah's shot, did you have a time-out to call there? And if you didn't, did you think about just having them wait for one shot?
COACH BARNES: We were hoping to go with one shot right there. I actually told the referee, if we score, we want a time-out. We got the long rebound and they were denying Isaiah the ball and, again, Javan -- obviously you want last shot there, but if it goes in, you're like -- and that's why I said about poise and our guys' mind-set. There was no hesitation from that end, it's just that we made a few careless plays at the wrong time. We could, like I said -- yeah, we had a time-out left. We were going to use it if we made it to set our defense.
But, again, the last shot is one thing, it's what happened up to that. It goes back to the two open court plays, the 10-second call, Connor's turnover and that's not just his fault, it's everybody moving to get it. You got to give them credit, they ran down a couple of rebounds and made some shots.
Q. Rick, you talked about the eyeball test and how people might look at this game. What are you going to be doing between now and Sunday? What's your emotions for the next couple of days?
COACH BARNES: Again, I -- what I think and I've said it all along, if we've done what we should do and I look at -- again, I haven't looked at any of the bracketology or any of that, I don't know where Iowa State is expected to be seeded, 3 seed. If they're a 3 seed, the way we played today obviously and the way we played really the last two and a half weeks, someone had told me that Iowa could be a 6 seed.
Early in the year when we had everybody before Isaiah got hurt, we won that game by 15 on a neutral court. There is a lot of things we could talk about like that, but I do have confidence in the committee that I think they do their work. I'm not one for politicking, because, one, I don't think it matters, but I do know that I don't think there is any team that would want to play us by just the way we have played the last couple of weeks.
Like I said, you go back to, throughout the regular season, you could say if this or if that, but you can't play that game. Like Demarcus said, we are who we are right now. And I hurt for our guys because they felt like they could win this tournament, but to do it, you got to do it for 40 minutes and that was a lesson that we didn't finish it.
We're good enough to play and beat anybody in the country and I believe that.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.
IOWA STATE COACH FRED HOIBERG
MONTE MORRIS
GEORGES NIANG
THE MODERATOR: We're ready to begin with Iowa State, Coach Hoiberg, his student-athletes tonight Monte Morris and Georges Niang.
COACH HOIBERG: Wow, what an unbelievable game. Still not sure how we won. 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. These guys made a heck of a play on that last possession, coming up, Georges slipping out of a screen. They actually defended it very well and Monte Morris just made a heck of an individual play.
Unbelievable atmosphere out there, this is the best league in the country, there's no doubt about that. Top to bottom, the way that each and every game is as competitive as it is. It's fun to be a part of and, again, I'm proud of these guys for finding a way and sticking together and gutting out an impressive win against a very good Texas team who I think absolutely belongs in the tournament.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.
Q. Georges, can you talk about how going the full-court press sort of triggered everything for you guys?
GEORGES NIANG: We felt that Texas was getting comfortable with the game and running isolation for Taylor, so we really wanted to speed them up and get the ball out of his be hands. So the full-court press really helped with that. We got some guys that we wanted the ball in their hands, and they made some plays that really helped us out. I think the biggest thing was trying to make them uncomfortable.
Q. Monte, what went through your head when you released the ball and watched it go in?
MONTE MORRIS: At the time you are just hoping and prayin' it goes in. 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.
Q. Monte, you guys were able to keep your composure, as Fred said. Why was that? Obviously the game wasn't going in your favor for quite some time.
MONTE MORRIS: First half we got off to a slow start and shots weren't falling and we knew we had to make a run soon or later, and we forced them to change their style of play a little bit. We played more up tempo going to the full court press, and we was able to play Cyclones basketball and get open looks and Dustin had a big three late that set that up for us.
Q. Georges, first half maybe not what you wanted, what's got to click in that first half for you guys?
GEORGES NIANG: I think Coach is going to have us locked in for the rest of this tournament. It's a mental aspect. We really just got to come in and really respect our opponent and come in with a locked in mind to run our stuff and defend against their stuff. And Coach is going to lead us in the right direction with that and I hope we can keep up with it.
THE MODERATOR: Guys, we'll let you go back to the locker room. Congratulations and good luck tomorrow. Questions for Coach?
Q. Fred, did you feel like the way the game was going, the crowd, the atmosphere, if you pushed yourselves up on them that they would crumble like that?
COACH HOIBERG: No, not at all. I wasn't feeling too good about it. We made a couple of plays late, they controlled the game and the tempo. And Rick had a great game plan and they executed it beautifully. We couldn't get anything goin', it's not very often we're going to have a 9-minute scoring drought with what we have out there offensively and give those guys a lot of credit. Every time we made a run, they had an answer for it, whether it was Holmes hitting a three or Lammert hitting a three. We tried to get the ball out of Taylor's hands. He was just kind of doing what he wanted out there and thankfully those guys missed a couple of shots because they were hitting everything in the first half to create separation. Again, when we made a run, they seemed to answer every call.
Q. Coach, great win. Off the court I want to talk about your athletic director. How is he doing?
COACH HOIBERG: Probably not very well after watch that go one, he's probably had another heart attack.
Q. Your thoughts on his recovery?
COACH HOIBERG: I had the opportunity to talk to him yesterday. He sounded about as good as you can after going through that procedure. Obviously being through that once myself, going to have to go through that again sometime here in the not-too-distant future, we were able to -- I know how much it helped me to talk to people that have been through it and the big advice that I gave to Jamie is he can't be a super hero throughout this process, he's going to listen to his body. On days when he doesn't feel good, he's got to take it easy. If not, it's going to make it a long recovery.
I'll tell you this, we're all thankful that he was in a public setting when he had the heart attack and his daughter who was absolutely a rock star who went and got the EMTs, got him to the hospital and he was able to get in a helicopter and fly back to Des Moines and get that surgery pretty much right away. We're all extremely thankful.
He said he was embarrassed where it happened, I said you're damn lucky where it happened. With all thankful Jamie is doing well. Where heart disease is right now, with all the awareness money that's raised for it, Jamie should be able to live a normal, long life and that's a blessing.
Q. You talked about the quality of this league, the games that you've played during the regular season, how much does that allow your team to have confidence in these situations not just here but perhaps in the next couple of weeks?
COACH HOIBERG: We have played three in a row where we have not gotten off to a good start. We missed some shots we should have made driving to the basket early, but, again, Texas' length had a lot to do with that. We've got to come out of the locker room and have that same urgency that we have in the second half. And if you don't do that you're going to get burned eventually.
I love the guys, and I thought our energy was actually was pretty good. They were getting tough shots and it almost deflated us a little bit. You try to keep the tempo where you want it, and Texas dictated that the entire night until the last couple minutes of the game.
Again, I'm proud of how they found a way. Great teams find a way and our team, you know, they did that tonight.
Q. Fred, just curious, 5.8 seconds left, would you have liked to have just played it out? Were you okay with the time-out?
COACH HOIBERG: I talked to them about it, we get the stop, we're goin'. But Dustin, I guess, made the right play, called a time-out, we came over, we regrouped, drew something up in the huddle, and Monte made a heck of an individual play out there.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. Congratulations.
