The Texas Longhorns traveled to Ames, Iowa looking for a big win and a season sweep of the Iowa State Cyclones. Texas fought hard but couldn’t muster up enough in the end, falling to the Cyclones 85-75 at Hilton Coliseum.
Player(s) of the game
Monte Morris and Georges Niang
Each of these Cyclone players scored 24 points, going 5-6 from 3 point range. They were the offense for the Cyclones on a night that that Steve Prohm’s team didn’t get much bench scoring.
Texas Best
Javan Felix and Tevin Mack
Both the senior and the freshman had fantastic games. Javan Felix was able to cut through the Iowa State defense on his way to 18 points which led Texas in scoring. Quietly, Felix has been a very solid contributor for the Longhorns in his career on the 40 Acres. Tevin Mack was deadly at times for the Longhorns behind the 3 point arc. He knew he would have to hit a few 3 pointers for Texas to stay in this game and the freshman delivered.
Turning point of the game
At the final TV timeout, the Longhorns were only down 3 points. However, Texas could not put it together and the Cyclones went on a 12-5 run to end the game with a 10 point victory.
Epilogue
After a frustrating, buzzer-beater loss to their arch rivals Oklahoma, the Longhorns looked like the last game didn’t affect them. That’s a great mentality to have and credit Coach Smart with the ability to get his guys ready to play on the road.
The upcoming schedule looks manageable for the Longhorns. 4 of the final 6 games are at home. The bad news is that all 4 games are against currently ranked opponents. The road games are at Kansas State and at Oklahoma State. Texas has a chance to win out the rest of the way and go to Kansas City on a hot streak. It can also turn ugly under a worst-case scenario in which Texas loses more than it wins and turns into a bubble team.
The first test will be West Virginia, who Texas embarrassed on their home court in January. The Mountaineers will be ready to play but another win over West Virginia could help the Longhorns get favorable seeding in the Big 12 tournament.
Stats
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Game Photos
