Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Cyclones complete ‘reality smack’
AMES, Iowa — The worst week of Kansas State’s season is over.
Fortunately for the Wildcats, they still have plenty of time to prove they’ll be a factor in the Big 12.
Will Clyburn had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Iowa State beat No. 11 Kansas State 73-67 on Saturday to hand the Wildcats their second consecutive loss after a 15-2 start.
Freshman Georges Niang added 15 points for the Cyclones (14-5, 4-2 Big 12), who beat a ranked opponent for the first time this season.
“Now we had a reality smack,” Kansas State Coach Bruce Weber said. “We’ve got to get back to where we were and do the things that we did well to give us a chance.”
Kansas State did just that in the second half, shooting 64 percent and answering basket after basket by Iowa State.
The Wildcats simply ran out of chances.
Rodney McGruder broke free for a dunk to get the Wildcats within 70-67 with 48.5 seconds left, but Korie Lucious answered with a layup to make it a two-score game with 20 seconds to go.
“I challenged our guys. I said, ‘Fellas, we are scoring every time down the floor. We’ve got to find a way to get stops and string them together,’ ” Iowa State Coach Fred Hoiberg said. “The last four minutes I thought we did a much better job of finding a way to get stops.”
Will Spradlin had 15 points and McGruder scored 13 to lead the Wildcats (15-4, 4-2), who lost on the road for the first time in four games.
Kansas State’s eight-game winning streak was stopped Wednesday by No. 3 Kansas, which won 59-55 for its 23rd victory in 25 tries at Bramlage Coliseum.
The Wildcats are now on their first losing streak of the season.
Iowa State finally got some breathing room with 5:24 left as Clyburn found Lucious, who stopped under the basket and flipped the ball back to Melvin Ejim for a twohanded stuff that put the Cyclones ahead 63-56. Clyburn then beat three Kansas State defenders for a rebound on the wing, and Niang turned it into a three-pointer that made it 68-62 with 2:35 left.
Lucious had 10 points and eight assists a day after calling a players-only meeting to rally the Cyclones, who were 11 of 22 from three-point range.
“We could never really get enough momentum to change the game,” Weber said. “When you go 11 from 22 from the three it’s probably a difference maker. And yet, throughout the whole thing we’re right there.”