Reaves Shines As No. 9 Oklahoma Tops Iowa State 66-56

Austin Reaves and Oklahoma got pushed by Iowa State on Saturday.

They responded with their own big run.

Reaves scored 20 points to lead the ninth-ranked Sooners to a wild 66-56 victory over the Cyclones.

Oklahoma (14-5, 9-4 Big 12) earned its third straight win since a 57-52 loss at No. 15 Texas Tech. But lowly Iowa State (2-16, 0-13) provided a stiff test.

The Cyclones trailed by as many as 21 in the first half before rallying to a 46-45 lead on Tre Jackson’s 3-pointer with 11:29 remaining. The Sooners then responded with a 16-4 spurt to grab the lead for good.

De’Vion Harmon and Umoja Gibson each made a 3-pointer before Reaves capped the decisive stretch with a free throw, making it 61-50 with 4:38 left.

“We really just locked back in,” Reaves said. “We let them get some momentum and take the lead, and that’s something we’ve got to work on.”

Reaves helped seal the win with two free throws and a long 3-pointer in the final 1:34. He finished 8 for 10 from the line.

Gibson and Harmon each had 10 points for the Sooners. Rasir Bolton led Iowa State with 14 points and six assists.

“It was a good response,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said of the Sooners regaining control. “The guys I thought played with poise.”

Oklahoma jumped ahead early, going on a 12-0 run and building a 14-2 lead. Iowa State missed seven consecutive shots during the Sooners’ scoring spree and was 2-for-11 entering the second media timeout.

A 3-pointer from Jalen Hill and a dunk by Alondes Williams helped Oklahoma extend its margin to 26-7. The Cyclones used a 7-0 run to keep the game competitive, but still trailed 41-25 at halftime.

The teams were a combined 3-for-19 shooting from 3-point range during the opening 20 minutes.

“Obviously, got off to a great start,” Kruger said. “Then the switch flipped at halftime and they hit a couple shots.”

Iowa State had won the previous nine meetings in Ames. Oklahoma has now eight of its last nine games, while the Cyclones have dropped 12 straight.

“It was a good road win,” Kruger said. “We’d have liked to have made it cleaner, but credit Iowa State.”

Reaves was playing just his third game in 26 days, due to various COVID-19-related issues. He averaged 21.3 points for those three games.

“I thought he did a good job converting, distributing and getting guys involved,” Kruger said of Reaves’ performance Saturday.

BIG PICTURE

Oklahoma, which was unranked to start the season, will remain among the Top 25 for a fifth straight week. The Sooners’ peak is No. 9.

Iowa State appears headed to its worst conference season since finishing 2-12 in the 1980-81 Big Eight standings.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma plays its third straight road game Tuesday, visiting Kansas State.

Iowa State plays at Big 12 leader Baylor on Tuesday.