Down Goes Number One: Sooners Fall To No. 19 Cyclones In Ames

Oklahoma made headlines on Monday by sitting atop the polls as the number one team in the nation, but that euphoric feeling didn’t even make it through the night as the Sooners lost 82-77 to No. 19 Iowa State inside of a raging Hilton Coliseum.

Three ISU players scored 20 points or more in the win, led by Georges Niang who totaled 22 points and hit 4-of-7 3-point attempts. The most baffling stat of the night is the Iowa State bench failed to score but the Cyclones still won.

OU brought the heat early in the game, and that was highlighted by Buddy Hield’s three 3-point makes in the first five and a half minutes. After a back-and-forth start, the Cyclones decided to switch into another gear.

ISU was really able to get it going towards the end of the second half, where the Cyclones put together a 9-0 run which started around the five minute mark. Niang found his rhythm during that impressive stretch, and Iowa State was able to flip a four-point deficit into a six-point lead by halftime.

ISU wasn’t done pouring on the punishment, as they were able to expand its lead to 10 points with 17 minutes left in the game. Apparently that double-digit deficit rang louder than an alarm in the Oklahoma huddle, and the Sooners finally decided to dial in the game.

Over the next eight minutes, OU was able to grind out the Cyclones and take a two-point lead after freshman Dante Buford threw up a prayer as the shot clock expired and swished home a deep 3-pointer.

Unfortunately for the Sooners, Hield and company went scoreless over the next four minutes and Iowa State was able to get their lead back up to eight points. Despite facing another large deficit, Oklahoma kept fighting and come to find out they had another run left in them.

Hield decided to take matters into his own hands after OU’s slump, and the senior superstar scored 11 straight points for OU and was able to give the Sooners a two-point lead with 3:09 left in the game.  

With the score tied at 77-77 and less than 30 seconds on the clock, ISU’s Monte Morris nailed a clutch jumper to give the Cyclones the lead, and the Sooners weren’t able to convert a game-tying layup by Hield or a 3-point attempt by Isaiah Cousins, and Iowa State was able to seal it with free-throws.

Hield totaled 27 points, six rebounds and four assists in the loss, while Cousins was able to get out of his shooting slump with 26 points and seven rebounds of his own. Both Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard struggled throughout the night and only scored two and five points respectively. One bright spot came from Buford, who totaled 14 points off the bench.

Tonight marks the first time since 1957 that Iowa State was able to beat the No. 1 ranked team in the nation in Ames.

OU will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Waco to play Baylor.