The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
10-14, 4-7
Iowa State
14-9, 6-5
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa State | 29 | 36 | 65 |
| Texas | 35 | 32 | 67 |
Men's Basketball downs Iowa State, 67-65
02.07.2017 | Men's Basketball
Allen's free throws with 7 seconds left lift Longhorns to home win over Cyclones.
AUSTIN, Texas – Freshman forward Jarrett Allen scored a game-high 17 points, including the game-winning free throws with seven seconds remaining, as Texas posted a hard-fought 67-65 victory over Iowa State on Tuesday night at the Frank Erwin Center.
Despite the down-to-the-wire finish, Texas (10-14, 4-7 Big 12) never trailed in the contest after opening the game with a 6-0 run. The Longhorns improved to 10-4 at home this season, including victories in each of their last three games at the Erwin Center, with the win over the Cyclones (14-9, 6-5).
Allen shot 7-of-11 from the field and finished one rebound shy of recording his ninth double-double of the season. Senior forward Shaquille Cleare recorded 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and six rebounds. Freshman guard Andrew Jones added 10 points and a career-high nine boards while dishing out seven assists in a career-high 36 minutes.
Senior guard Matt Thomas led Iowa State with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point range. Redshirt junior Deonte Burton recorded 13 points along with a team-high eight rebounds and six steals.
Texas raced out to an early 17-3 lead following a Cleare jumper at the 12:19 mark, capping an 11-0 run. Senior guard Kendal Yancy converted a traditional 3-point play to extend the Longhorns' cushion to 16 (21-5) with 8:42 remaining in the half.
The Longhorns maintained their double-digit lead until the 2:05 mark, when a 9-0 Cyclone run trimmed the margin to 30-22. A Thomas 3-pointer just one minute later cut Texas' advantage to four (31-27) with 1:08 remaining. Merrill Holden sank two free throws to bring the Cyclones to within three (32-29) with 30 seconds left, but Jones heaved a rainbow 3-pointer at the buzzer to put the Longhorns ahead 35-29 lead entering the break.
Texas used a 6-0 spurt to start the second half and build a double-digit lead (41-29) with 18:05 left following an Allen dunk. But the Cyclones responded, closing the gap to one (55-54) after a dunk from Darrell Bowie with 6:11 remaining.
The two teams traded blows over a five-minute stretch in which the Cyclones never allowed Texas to lead by more than three. With 47 seconds remaining, Burton drained a 3-pointer to tie the game, 63-63, for the first time all night. Texas regained the lead on a Cleare layup with 29 seconds left, but Burton countered with a jumper at the 15-second mark to knot the score again, 65-65.
After grabbing a key offensive rebound and drawing a foul with seven seconds left, Allen stepped to the free-throw line facing a one-and-one situation. Allen sank both shots, leaving the Cyclones to attempt a last-second 3-pointer that bounced off the rim as time expired.
Texas begins a two-game road swing on Saturday, Feb. 11 with a matchup against Oklahoma State in Stillwater. Tip is set for 3 p.m. Central at Gallagher-Iba Arena, and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
Texas 67, Iowa State 65
February 7, 2017
Austin, Texas (Frank Erwin Center)
Attendance: 10,048
Team Notes
- UT improved to 13-2 against Iowa State all-time in games played in Austin. The Longhorns have now won eight of the last nine meetings against the Cyclones at the Erwin Center.
- Texas improved to 19-16 in the all-time series against Iowa State.
- The Longhorns improved to 487-116 all-time in home games at the Frank Erwin Center. The Horns improved to 215-33 at the Erwin Center in the last 15 seasons (since start of the 2002-03 season). Texas improved to 10-4 this season and 24-7 at home in the Shaka Smart era.
- UT has now had 12 of its first 24 contests decided by 5 points or less this season. The Longhorns improved to 5-7 in games decided by 5 points or less. Texas improved to 3-6 this year in games decided by 3 points or less.
- Texas improved to 4-2 in Big 12 Conference home games this season and have won three straight league home contests (Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Iowa State).
- All six of UT's home league contests have been decided by 4 points or less.
- Texas registered a 36-20 advantage in points in the paint and a 13-5 margin in second-chance points.
- UT posted a 39-31 rebound margin, including a 12-5 advantage on the offensive glass.
- Reached double figures in scoring (17 points) for the 17th time this season (24 games) and 10th time in Big 12 play (11 games).
- Hit two free throws with 7 seconds remaining (facing a 1-and-1 situation) that proved to be the game-winning points.
- Reached double figures in scoring (12 points) for the 10th time this season (24 games) and 12th time in his UT career (57 games).
- Reached double figures in scoring (10 points) for the eighth straight game and 15th time this season (24 games).
- Set a career high with 9 rebounds (previous: 8 vs. Oklahoma on Jan. 23).
- Set a career high in minutes played with 36 (previous: 35, twice).
- His 7 assists were one shy of his career high (8 at Georgia on Jan. 28).
- Saw his most game action (20 minutes) since returning from his ankle injury at Baylor on Jan. 17 (last seven games).
- His 9 points marked his highest scoring output since he had 14 points against UAB on Dec. 21.
- His 4 rebounds (3 offensive) marked his highest rebounding effort since he had a season-high 5 boards against Long Beach State on Dec. 10.
Postgame Quotes
Texas Head Coach Shaka Smart
On the game: Our guys did a lot of good things. We started with good energy. Once we got the big lead, we got a little bit sloppy on the offensive end. We got away from sharing it the way we wanted to share. Obviously, teams are going to try to make runs back at you, but our guys did a great job at the end of the game finishing it off.
On the team's defense: Iowa State is as hard to guard as anyone in our league. Holding them to 65 (points), that is a big victory. They got seniors on the team. They have older guys that don't get rattled, and they keep coming at you. They have guys that keep coming at you, and they can make shots. I did think there were some times on transition defense that we weren't as good as we need to be, and they got loose. But definitely, we had a lot more energy than Saturday's game (at TCU).
On team becoming more comfortable in late-game situations: Hopefully they should be getting much more comfortable. Look how many we have been in. With that being said, we have a long way to go with execution of what we want to do. Free throw shooting. If we shoot better from the foul line, we have more of a cushion there. You have to play with what we call approach goals, which is attacking and going after it. I think sometimes with this team this year, there has been a little bit of avoidance, like I don't want to make a mistake. But you can't play that way. You have to be aggressive. Sometimes when you have a lead down the stretch, you just saw it in the Super Bowl, you want to kind of hold onto that lead. But a lot of times in basketball, it just doesn't work out for you. We have to learn to play when we have a lead and play aggressive, just as aggressive as we would be if we were behind.
Texas Freshman Forward Jarrett Allen
On making the two clutch free throws down the stretch: I knew I could do it. I knew my team had confidence in me, so I didn't want to let them down. I just had to think for myself to relax and do what I always do.
On being double-teamed in the second half: It's frustrating for anybody to get double-teamed. In practice, we have worked for me to dribble out and kick it out and for the guards to swing it around. So if they double me, I'm going to get my teammates an open shot.
Texas Senior Forward Shaquille Cleare
On if this was the start of bouncing back: Yeah. I never lose confidence in these guys. They work extremely hard. We worked hard all week for this opponent. They just got a big win at Kansas, so coming here they were feeling themselves. We just came out and threw the first blow. They're a veteran team, so we knew they were going to make their runs. But we stuck to the plan and ended up with the win.
On what he saw out of the team tonight: We started off pretty solid. Guys just never stopped fighting. We got down at one point in the game, and we let the game get really close at one point. We kept fighting and executing and doing what Coach wanted us to do. That's why we were able to come out with the win.
Texas Senior Guard Kendal Yancy
On his performance tonight: That's part of my role, pretty much just doing the dirty work. It's one of the things that this team really needs to get going, getting rebounds, getting extra possessions, getting extra attempts. That's what we really need. I'm that guy to do that. Just trying to bring the spark out there.
On the difference in the defense tonight: We practiced way harder than how we played against TCU. That just made no sense for us to practice harder than how we play in the games. We just made a decision and said we were going to go out there and play Texas Basketball.
Iowa State Head Coach Steve Prohm
On the loss: Congratulations to Texas. We didn't really deserve to win tonight. We got off to a rough start and thought our guys were getting back in the game. We didn't make enough plays and they got it done. Win or lose, you've got to reset the process and come back on Thursday when we get back on the floor.
Iowa State Senior Guard Nazareth Mitrou-Long
On the loss: It definitely doesn't feel good. You've got to get those types of wins and we didn't do that tonight. We were horrendous coming out of the gate. Our ball screen defense was terrible and there's no one else to blame other than the players. We've got to look ourselves in the face and get it done. You've got to win these types of ball games, especially after the last game. There's no excuse but that.
On why they came out slowly: Honestly, we were just missing shots. There's no excuse for us coming out of the gate the way we did and getting ourselves in a hole and not being able to come back and get this win. So it's on nobody but the players.
Iowa State Senior Guard Matt Thomas
On struggling at the beginning of games: I think it's just what we're doing. When you're good on offense and you get stops on defense, you're really good. It's easy to say that, but we've got to be more consistent with that. Tonight we came out flat and it's tough to win games on the road when you beat yourself up and we got that deficit early in the first half.
On coming back late in games: We feel like we can come back when we get down double digits, but there's no reason to get in the hole. Your team just can't come out of the gate 15 points down.
