COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Iowa State Comes Back for Upset of No. 2 Oklahoma State

Johnny Orr has been on the winning end of some big comebacks during his 42 years coaching basketball, but Orr said none compare to the one his Iowa State team staged Saturday against No. 2 Oklahoma State.

The Cyclones rallied from an 18-point deficit in the second half to tie the score, then came from seven behind in the overtime to upset the Cowboys, 84-83, in a Big Eight Conference game at Ames, Iowa.

Iowa State trailed, 83-81, when freshman Fred Hoiberg, who scored 18 points, completed a three-point play with 8.9 seconds left to give the Cyclones their first lead.

Oklahoma State had a chance to win it after Hoiberg’s shot, but Darwyn Alexander missed two free throws with 2.4 seconds left.

“The way we came out and played the second half was about as good as we’ve ever played and probably can ever play,” Orr said.

Iowa State (18-6, 4-4 in the Big Eight) made 24 of 30 shots in the second half to overcome a 38-20 halftime deficit.

The 20 points were a season-low in a half for the Cyclones, who bounced back to hand Oklahoma State (21-3, 5-3) its second consecutive loss and third in four games.

“We didn’t play well in the second half,” said Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton, whose team lost at Colorado on Wednesday. “We made dumb plays and missed critical shots. We didn’t defend their penetration plays in the second half and our free throws killed us in the overtime.”

Iowa State guard Justus Thigpen, held out of the starting lineup for disciplinary reasons, scored 11 of his 22 points in overtime. He also fed Hoiberg for the game-winning shot.

Thigpen, who had only four points at halftime, scored on a drive with 10 seconds left in regulation to tie the score, 67-67. Then he rescued the Cyclones after they fell behind, 75-68, in overtime.

Thigpen made a jump shot and three consecutive three-point shots to pull Iowa State to within 82-81 with 37 seconds left. Oklahoma State’s Milton Brown made one of two free throws to make the score 83-81 and it looked as if Iowa State would go to Thigpen one more time.

But he faked the shot and passed to Hoiberg cutting to the basket. Hoiberg was fouled by Corey Williams and made the free throw.

Ron Bayless also scored 22 points for Iowa State, which won its 15th consecutive home game.

Byron Houston scored 21 points for Oklahoma State, which is two games behind conference-leading Kansas.

No. 4 Indiana 91, Northwestern 60--The Hoosiers overcame a 10-point first-half deficit at Bloomington, Ind., to hand the Wildcats their 52nd consecutive Big Ten Conference road loss.

Calbert Cheaney and freshman Alan Henderson each scored 17 points for Indiana (18-4, 9-2), which overcame the deficit with a 26-11 run that helped the Hoosiers take a 39-32 halftime lead.

Cedric Neloms and Todd Leslie each scored 16 points for Northwestern (8-13, 1-10), which has not won at Bloomington since 1968.

No. 4 Kansas 82, Colorado 45--Rex Walters scored 22 points as the Jayhawks handed the Buffaloes their worst loss in nearly three years in a Big Eight game at Lawrence, Kan.

Colorado (11-10, 2-6), coming off Wednesday’s 57-53 victory over No. 2 Oklahoma State, had 30 turnovers against Kansas, one shy of the school record.

Kansas (19-2, 7-1, which had 29 turnovers, took a 42-16 halftime lead en route to its ninth consecutive home victory over Colorado, which has lost 29 of 31 games at Allen Fieldhouse.

The 37-point margin of defeat was Colorado’s worst since a 38-point setback at Nebraska on Feb. 22, 1989.

No. 6 North Carolina 80, Clemson 72--The Tar Heels almost blew a 17-point lead, then made 10 of 14 free throws in the final three minutes to preserve the Atlantic Coast Conference victory at Clemson, S.C.

Hubert Davis scored 23 points for North Carolina (18-3, 8-2), which pulled within a game of first-place Duke in the ACC.

Andre Bovain scored 18 points for Clemson (12-9, 2-8).

No. 8 Ohio State 67, Wisconsin 63--Jim Jackson scored 29 points and the Buckeyes opened the second half with nine consecutive points en route to the Big Ten victory at Madison, Wis.

Chris Jent added 16 points for Ohio State (17-3, 9-1).

Tracy Webster scored 24 points and Michael Finley added 14 for Wisconsin (11-13, 2-9).

No. 11 Arkansas 89, South Carolina 73--Isaiah Morris scored 21 points to lead the Razorbacks to victory at Fayetteville, Ark., in the first meeting of the two newest members of the Southeastern Conference.

Todd Day scored 13 points for Arkansas (19-5, 8-2), which won its second consecutive game after losing two in a row on the road.

Jeff Roulston scored 17 points for South Carolina (10-11, 2-8), which dressed eight players and suffered its seventh consecutive loss.

No. 12 Michigan State 70, No. 17 Michigan 59--Mike Peplowski scored 18 points as the Spartans avenged an overtime loss to the Wolverines with the Big Ten victory at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Michigan (15-6, 6-5) led by as many as 13 points in the first half and had a 36-30 lead at halftime. But Michigan scored only three points in the final 6:05 of the game.

The win, coupled with Illinois’ victory over Minnesota, moved the Michigan State (17-4, 7-4) into third place in the Big Ten. It was the third straight victory for the Spartans.

Virginia Tech 89, No. 14 Tulane 73--Thomas Elliott scored 22 points and Erik Wilson and Steve Hall each had 18 for the Hokies, who ended a five-game losing streak with the Metro Conference victory at Blacksburg, Va.

Virginia Tech (8-13, 2-6) went on a 12-2 run to lead, 57-46, with 9:12 left. The Hokies repeatedly broke the Green Wave press with back-door passes and layups to maintain the lead.

David Whitmore scored 20 points for Tulane (19-3, 7-1), which had won six of seven games and defeated North Carolina Charlotte Thursday to take a 2 1/2-game lead in the conference.

No. 15 Nevada Las Vegas 66, Pacific 50--Elmore Spencer scored 15 points and had 15 rebounds to lead the Rebels to the Big West Conference victory at Las Vegas.

UNLV (22-2, 14-0) extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 19 games and also increased its homecourt winning streak to 45 games.

Tony Amundsen scored 21 points for Pacific (8-13, 4-8).

UNLV won despite making one of 20 shots three-point shots.

No. 19 Kentucky 93, Western Kentucky 83--Deron Feldhaus of Kentucky scored eight consecutive points during a 15-0 run in the first half of the Wildcats’ nonconference victory at Lexington, Ky.

Jamal Mashburn scored 26 points and Feldhaus had 18 for Kentucky (18-5).

Harold Thompkins scored 28 points for Western Kentucky (16-8), which got no closer than 66-60 with 11:32 left.

Vanderbilt 76, No. 20 Louisiana State 69--Kevin Anglin scored seven of his 21 points in the last two minutes as the Commodores beat LSU in an SEC game at Nashville, Tenn.

Vanderbilt (11-10, 3-7) scored the final 10 points to hand the Tigers their third consecutive loss.

Vernel Singleton scored 24 points for LSU (14-7, 7-3). Shaquille O’Neal scored 10 points--14 below his average. He made five of 10 shots and did not attempt a free throw.

Air Force 75, No. 21 Texas El Paso 72--Otis Jones scored 15 points and the Falcons made 31 of 36 free throws for the WAC victory at Air Force Academy, Colo.

It was the first time Air Force (8-15, 2-9) beat a ranked team and the first time the Falcons beat UTEP (18-5, 8-4) in 24 meetings.

South Florida 70, No. 22 North Carolina Charlotte 63--Radenko Dobras scored 22 of his 28 points in the second half to lead the Bulls (13-9, 2-6) over the 49ers (19-6, 4-3) in a Metro Conference victory at Charlotte, N.C.

No. 23 Florida St. 80, Georgia Tech 67--Sam Cassell made six three-point baskets and finished with 22 points to lead the Seminoles (18-6, 10-4) to an ACC victory over the Yellow Jackets (16-9, 4-7) at Tallahassee, Fla.

No. 24 Cincinnati 89, St. Louis 60--Six Bearcats scored more than 10 points in the Great Midwest Conference victory at St. Louis.

Herb Jones scored 15 points for Cincinnati (19-3, 5-1). Julian Winfield scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds for St. Louis (7-16, 0-6).

No. 25 Seton Hall 85, Providence 77--Terry Dehere scored 27 points and made a three-point shot to help the Pirates (15-6, 7-5) hold off a late surge by the Friars (12-13, 4-9) in a Big East game at East Rutherford, N.J.