Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On March 12, 2015, Monte Morris hit a jumper from the right baseline at the buzzer to give Iowa State their first lead of the day in a 69-67 Big 12 Tournament win. Fred Hoiberg’s Cyclones went on to run the table and capture the Big 12 tournament championship.
Coming off a 28-8 record team anchored by Melvin Ejim and DeAndre Kane, which captured the Big 12 tournament championship the year prior, the Cyclones put together a fearsome lineup featuring Morris, Abdel Nader, Naz Mitrou-Long, Georges Niang, Dustin Hogue, Jameel McKay, and Matt Thomas. The Cyclones stormed out to a 10-2 non-conference start with lopsided wins over Iowa and Drake. Iowa State went 12-6 in conference play before arriving in Kansas City for the Big 12 tournament.
Iowa State struggled against Texas early, going nearly 10-minutes without scoring a basket in the first half while the Longhorns built a 29-14 lead. Iowa State trailed 36-25 at half and still found themselves down ten points with just over seven minutes to play. However, the Cyclones stormed back. A Morris 3-pointer tied the game at 67 with 1:47 to play. The game remained deadlocked as Hoiberg took a timeout with 5.7 seconds to play. The Mayor put the ball in Morris’s hands, who hit the buzzer-beater to save the Cyclones.
Iowa State went on to beat Oklahoma and Kansas to capture their second straight Big 12 tournament title. The Cyclones finished the season 25-9 after a first-round NCAA tournament upset by UAB. Hoiberg left to accept a position with the Chicago Bulls after the season's conclusion. #IowaOTD #IowaHistoryDaily #IowaHistoryCalendar
Comments