The Hawkeyes allow Cyclones to claw back from 20 points down.

By Ian Murphy  | [email protected]

Iowa State led for exactly 39 seconds on Thursday.

Once, for 30 seconds after Iowa State forward Jameel McKay opened the scoring at 2-0 with a lay-up one minute into the game.

The other, for nine seconds after guard Monte Morris hit a game-winning runner over Iowa guard Anthony Clemmons to make the final score 83-82.

“He’s earned the right to take those shots and make those shots,” Iowa State head coach Steve Prohm said. “He’s a senior, and he’s an All-American.”

The loss moves Iowa to 7-3 on the season, and the Hawkeyes would like to forget this loss quickly.

Iowa led 43-23 with 4:42 left in the first half, 49-35 at the half, and again by 20, 62-42, with 16:50 left in the game. The Hawkeyes also led the Cyclones by 8 with 2:30 minutes to play after appearing to stave off a fierce Iowa State charge.

But, of course, the final score is the only one that matters.

Down 6 with 1:05 to play, the Cyclones forced two turnovers on Iowa inbound passes. Jameel McKay stole the ball and swung it out to Matt Thomas, who hit a 3 that sent the crowd into a frenzy and brought the Cyclones within 82-79.

Iowa senior Jarrod Uthoff was then called for five seconds on the inbound play, and Georges Niang hit two free throws to make the game just a 1-point Hawkeye advantage.

Hawkeye head coach Fran McCaffery said he did not consider using a time-out after the first inbound play, although Clemmons said it wouldn’t have been the worst idea.

“We probably should have called a time-out,” Clemmons said. “But we didn’t.”

Despite Uthoff’s 30-point first half and junior Peter Jok and senior Adam Woodbury tallying an additional 18 and 12, respectively, the Hawkeyes fell 1 point short on the scoreboard and nine seconds short on the clock of the biggest upset of the young college basketball season.

Uthoff, who tallied 32 points, a career high, said his big offensive output becomes meaningless with the outcome.

“Doesn’t matter in the first half; we lost the game,” he said.

With a chance to win, the senior let a 3-pointer go from the top of the arc.

“It felt good,” Uthoff said. “I thought it was good, too.”

The shot didn’t fall, however, and the Hawkeyes walked off the court to the music of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” as the Cyclone student section stormed the court — which led to a Randy Peterson, a columnist from the Des Moines Register falling and breaking his leg. The Register reported he had surgery on Dec. 10.

The loss mirrors the last time the Hawkeyes traveled to Ames, two years ago, when the Hawkeyes gave up a lead with under a minute to go and watched as the Cyclone fans stormed the court.

“We just lost focus,” Clemmons said. “We had a lot of momentum on our side. We knew what we had to do.”

McCaffery said the Hawkeye defense lapsed down the stretch, and the team turned the ball over as well.

The Hawkeyes had 18 turnovers, 9 in each half, and while Iowa State had 17, the difference-maker was the Cyclones’ 32 points on Hawk turnovers, compared with 19 points for the Hawkeyes.

“We couldn’t get stops,” McCaffery said. “They did a really good job capitalizing on our mistakes. When we turned it over, they scored.”

Turnovers and defensive lapses aside, the Hawkeyes were in position to win the game with 10 seconds left in the game.

The final nine, however, proved to be their undoing.

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