Monte Morris rose up and hit an 18-foot jumper at the buzzer, capping a 12-0 closing run that lifted No. 13 Iowa State to a 69-67 victory over Texas in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament Thursday night.
Morris finished with 24 points for the second-seeded Cyclones (23-8), who trailed by 16 points before clawing back into the game. Still, Iowa State trailed 67-57 with less than 4 minutes to go when it unleashed a full-court press that helped it draw even.
Morris’s 3-pointer with 1:42 left tied it at 67, and the teams swapped empty possessions before Texas (20-13) got the ball back with 38.1 seconds left.
Isaiah Taylor allowed the shot clock to melt down before driving the lane and missing a running jumper. Texas ( 20-13) got the rebound and kicked it out to Javan Felix, but he misfired on a long 3-pointer and the Cyclones’ Dustin Hogue grabbed the long rebound and called timeout.
With 5.8 seconds left, Hogue took the inbounds pass and race dup court, found Morris in the corner, and the sophomore guard calmly rose up over the Longhorns’ Demarcus Holland for the game-winning shot — sending the Cyclones streaming off the bench into a jubilant pile.
Georges Niang added 22 points for the defending tournament champion Cyclones, who advanced to play the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State winner in the semifinals Friday night.
