Playing without its top two scorers, No. 8 Iowa State pushed No. 5 Houston before falling 68-59 on the road Saturday as the Cougars bolstered their lead in the Big 12 title race. With Curtis Jones out due to illness and Keshon Gilbert absent due to a muscle strain, the Cyclones were forced to dip deep into their bench and fell behind 16 early in the second half.
But Iowa State (21-6, 11-5 Big 12) roared back and cut the deficit to 48-47 with under eight minutes to play before the Cougars (23-4, 15-1) finally snapped back to life behind the hot shooting of LJ Cryer. The Cougars’ top scorer produced 12 points in a span of less than six minutes as Houston stayed one step ahead down the stretch.
Cryer finished with 28 points, two short of a career-high, and hit 5 of 7 attempts from 3-point range as Houston (23-4, 15-1) hit 10 of 17 shots from beyond the arc. The Cougars need the quality shooting performance to withstand a second-half charge led by ISU’s Milan Momcilovic.
The sophomore forward scored all 16 of his points after the break to lead the Cyclones. On three different occasions late in the second half Momcilovic drew Iowa State within two points. However, the Cougars closed on a 10-3 run and held ISU scoreless of the final 4:38 while taking another huge step toward repeating as the Big 12’s regular season champion.
Still ahead is a Monday showdown with No. 9 Texas Tech next week as the Cougars seek to avenge their only loss of league play. Houston is now 30-4 in regular season league play since joining the Big 12 last season.
