AMES (AP) — —
Scott Christopherson's buzzer beater was a first.
Christopherson banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cap a late rally that gave Iowa State a 71-68 victory over Oklahoma State on Wednesday night.
"I've never done something like that before," the senior guard said. "Not even in high school, not even in middle school. It was a good feeling."
And quite a thrill for the Hilton Coliseum crowd of 12,397, which was squirming after the Cyclones fell behind 66-60 with less than three minutes to play.
But Christopherson hit a 3-pointer and driving layup to cut the lead to one, and after Keiton Page sank two free throws for Oklahoma State, Tyrus McGee nailed a 3 to tie it at 68-all with 16.8 seconds remaining.
The Cowboys had a chance for the final shot, but McGee, who gave the Cyclones a huge lift off the bench with 17 points, knocked the ball off Markel Brown's leg, and it rolled out of bounds with 4.8 seconds left, giving Iowa State possession.
"He was our energy guy all night long," Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said. "We don't have Tyrus tonight, no way we win that ballgame."
Iowa State (13-5, 3-2 Big 12) inbounded, and Christopherson dribbled up the floor. He stopped 2 feet from the 3-point line and launched his game winner over the 5-foot-8 Page, touching off a wild celebration among the ISU players.
Christopherson was mobbed, then jumped up onto the scorers table to salute the crowd. After a video review by the officials, the basket stood.
"I didn't know he could jump that high," Hoiberg cracked.
Christopherson and Royce White also scored 17 points each for the Cyclones. McGee, at 6-2, grabbed nine rebounds and White, who sat out much of the first half because of fouls, handed out six assists while shooting 7 for 10 from the field.
Iowa State led 31-29 at halftime and appeared to be taking control when Christopherson and McGee hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 57-52 lead midway through the second half.
But Oklahoma State, coming off a 41-point loss to Baylor, clawed back. Page came off a screen on the right side to hit a 3-pointer to put OSU up 61-60, and he hit another 3 from the left wing for a 64-60 lead with 4 minutes left, forcing an Iowa State timeout. When Le'Bryan Nash scored inside, the lead was six, and Iowa State appeared to be reeling.
Christopherson and McGee then got the Cyclones back in it.
"This is probably the first time since I've been here that in the last three or four minutes of the game, this team has gotten down by five or six points and had all the momentum on the other team's side, and then pulled together and did what we needed to do to put ourselves in a spot to win," Christopherson said.
"Obviously the last-second shot, people will pay a lot of attention to that. But Tyrus strips the ball and gives us a chance to get off that last-second shot."
Page and Nash led Oklahoma State (9-9, 2-3) with 21 points each. The Cowboys, who have five freshmen among their top eight players, found some solace in bouncing back with a solid performance after their loss at Baylor.
"Our guys showed a lot of resilience, and we fought back from a tough game last game," OSU coach Travis Ford said. "You're looking at a bunch of freshmen going up against a bunch of 22-, 23-, 24-year old seniors out there tonight, in a sold-out arena. I can't remember seeing a more dejected locker room than what I just left."
McGee gave Iowa State a boost after Oklahoma State hit four of its first five shots to take an early lead. It was 12-all when White picked up his second foul on a charging call and went to the bench at the 12:56 mark for what turned out to be the rest of the half.
That left the Cyclones without the player who leads them in scoring, rebounding and assists.
Thirty seconds later, McGee hit a rainbow 3-pointer from the left corner to put the Cyclones up 15-12, and while they never took control, they led the rest of the half.
McGee later hit a pull-up jumper for a 24-18 ISU lead, then knocked down another 3-pointer to put the Cyclones ahead 27-22. When Christopherson followed with two free throws, Iowa State had its biggest lead of the half at 29-22.
But the Cyclones, who have endured stretches of lackluster play at times, couldn't maintain their cushion.
Some crisp passing set up a dunk by Nash and two buckets by 7-foot Marek Soucek to pull the Cowboys within 31-29 at halftime. They kept it close by outrebounding the Cyclones 18-13 in the first half.
Returning for the start of the second half, White quickly made his presence felt. He made a turnaround 13 seconds in, fed Melvin Ejim for a layup and hit a 3-pointer from the left corner, hiking the Cyclones' lead to 38-33.
But Nash scored 11 straight Oklahoma State points over the next 3½ minutes to pull the Cowboys into a tie at 44-all, and they eased ahead at 52-51 on Brown's 3-pointer from the top of the key. Christopherson and McGee erased that lead with their back-to-back 3s, setting the stage for a stretch run that featured big shots by both teams.
"It was a huge game for us, no doubt about that," Hoiberg said. "We didn't come out with the same fire I would have liked, but we found a way to gut it out and come away with a W. Early in the season, I don't think we would have done this."
OKLAHOMA ST. (9-9)
Nash 10-19 0-1 21, B. Williams 1-6 1-4 3, Page 7-12 2-2 21, Cobbins 5-6 0-0 10, Brown 3-8 2-2 9, Guerrero 0-4 0-0 0, Soucek 2-2 0-1 4, Sager 0-0 0-0 0, Jurick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 5-10 68.
IOWA ST. (13-5)
Babb 2-7 1-2 5, Ejim 3-5 2-4 8, Allen 1-4 2-2 5, Christopherson 5-11 4-4 17, White 7-10 2-4 17, Booker 1-2 0-0 2, Gibson 0-0 0-0 0, McGee 6-11 0-0 17. Totals 25-50 11-16 71.
Halftime_Iowa St. 31-29. 3-Point Goals_Oklahoma St. 7-16 (Page 5-8, Brown 1-1, Nash 1-4, Guerrero 0-1, B. Williams 0-2), Iowa St. 10-27 (McGee 5-9, Christopherson 3-6, White 1-1, Allen 1-4, Booker 0-1, Ejim 0-2, Babb 0-4). Fouled Out_Jurick. Rebounds_Oklahoma St. 29 (Brown 6), Iowa St. 27 (McGee 9). Assists_Oklahoma St. 21 (Brown 11), Iowa St. 15 (White 6). Total Fouls_Oklahoma St. 16, Iowa St. 12. A_12,397.
Sports
January 19, 2012
Iowa State beats Oklahoma State at buzzer 71-68
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