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Cyclones bounced from NCAA Tourney in first round

logo_iowa_state_cyclonesLOUISVILLE, Ky. – No. 9 Iowa State’s season came to an end Thursday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA Basketball Championship as the Cyclones (25-9, 12-6 Big 12) fell to UAB (20-15, 12-6 C-USA) 60-59 at the KFC Yum! Center.

In a game that featured eight ties and 17 lead chances, UAB took the lead for good with 24 seconds to play. Jameel McKay finished with a double-double, recording 10 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high six blocked shots. Monté Morris led Iowa State with 15 points.

Iowa State flew out of the gates, with Naz Long hitting a 3-pointer on the Cyclones’ first possession as ISU ran off 12 of the first 14 points in the game to have a 10-point lead five minutes in. The Blazers battled back, going on a 14-4 run to tie things up at 16-16. After ISU briefly regained the lead, the Blazers got their first lead at 19-18 at the free throw line via Tyler Madison.

A William Lee hook shot got UAB ahead 21-18, but ISU was able to get back ahead from deep. Matt Thomas came off the bench to score eight-consecutive Cyclone points on a pair of 3-pointers and a lay-in on a Long steal to make it 26-23 Cyclones. The Blazers did not back off, as they went and got backsets on three-straight possessions from three different players to get ahead again at 29-26.

Down 31-28 at the break, Iowa State took advantage of some sloppy play by the Blazers to move back ahead. Monté Morris had a steal and lay-in to tie it back up at 31-31, and Thomas put ISU back ahead with a corner 3-pointer in front of the Cyclone bench to make it 34-31 Iowa State.

The Blazers continued their dominance on the board to get back ahead with back-to-back possessions that featured second-chance shots each time to move ahead 41-38 and force an ISU timeout. However, ISU was able to get back ahead quickly via buckets from Niang and Morris to make it 42-41.

The teams continued to trade leads as both teams continued to run off 4-0 mini-bursts to get back ahead. Long ended the rut as he hit his first 3-pointer since the start of the game to tie it at 49-49. At 51-51, Jameel McKay blocked his fifth shot of the game to set up a fast-break lay-in for Morris to get ISU back ahead by two with 3:47 to play.

A pair of Niang free throws made it 55-51, but the Blazers were able to cut it down to two via Lee got it back to two. ISU then committed a shot clock violation to give it back to UAB, but McKay blocked his career-high sixth shot of the game to hold the Blazers at bay. However, second-chance points struck again as Robert Brown hit a 3-pointer on an in-bound play to get ahead 56-55 with 50.5 seconds to play.

There was plenty of drama still to come as Iowa State came right down and got a runner from Morris to move back ahead 57-56. The Blazers decided to get a quick shot as Lee hit a jumper from 17 feet to move back ahead 58-57 with 24 seconds to play. Niang got denied on a baseline move, forcing ISU to foul Lee, who converted both of his free throws. The Cyclones set up an in-bounds play for Long, but he missed his 3-pointer and Morris’ tip-in came too late for ISU to get another chance as the Blazers advanced to the third round.

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