Oklahoma State beats Iowa State 72-71 in Big 12 opener

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Oklahoma State’s Isaac Likekele went coast-to-coast for the go-ahead layup with 3.8 seconds left, lifting the eighth-seeded Cowboys to a 72-71 victory over No. 9 seed Iowa State in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday night.

Likekele finished with 21 points for the Cowboys (18-14), who trailed almost the entire second half before taking the lead on his two free throws with 20.4 seconds left. The Cyclones (12-20) regained the lead when Terrence Lewis blew past the Oklahoma State defense for a layup with 8.9 seconds left, only to see Likekele race back the other way.

The Cyclones had one last chance when they inbounded the ball with a couple ticks left on the clock, but Lewis never managed to get a tightly guarded shot up before the buzzer sounded to end the game.

Likekele also had nine assists and five rebounds as the Cowboys advanced to play No. 1 Kansas in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Cameron McGriff added 17 points and Yor Anei finished with 12.

Prentiss Nixon led Iowa State with 25 points. Michael Jacobson had 13 and Tre Jackson had 10.

It was the first of just two games at the Big 12 Tournament to be played with fans.

About 30 minutes before tip-off, commissioner Bob Bowlsby announced the league was following the lead of the NCAA and restricting attendance beginning with Thursday’s quarterfinals to the teams, family members and essential staff. Each team will get 125 tickets to hand out on a game-by-game basis through Saturday night’s championship game.

Bowlsby nearly barred fans from the opening round but decided it was too close to tip-off to make that call.

As usual, Iowa State fans arrived en masse and filled most of the lower bowl of Sprint Center, though a team that has been a Big 12 Tournament beast in recent years hardly gave them reason to cheer. Iowa State committed 10 first-half turnovers in a sloppy half for both teams, and Oklahoma State took a 34-32 lead into the locker room.

Iowa State finally found its stride early in the second half.

Beginning with a 3-pointer from Caleb Grill, the Cyclones embarked on a 15-2 run that forced Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton to call timeout. Nixon had the final seven points during the charge, which brought injured star Tyrese Haliburton to his feet on the Iowa State bench and gave his team a 47-38 lead with just under 16 minutes to go.

The Cowboys slowly whittled away at their deficit throughout the second half, and a series of foul shots got them within 67-66 with 1:37 to go. Nixon answered with a step-back jumper for Iowa State, and McGriff followed with a pair of foul shots, as the two teams went toe-to-toe down the stretch of the Big 12 Tournament opener.

FAREWELL, FANS

The decision to restrict fans — along with pep bands, cheerleaders and dance teams — was voted upon unanimously by the Big 12’s board of directors. They received input from a number of entities, including public health officials, The University of Kansas Hospital, the Centers for Disease Control and the Kansas City Sports Commission.

“The attempt is to minimize the number of people here but still find a way to conduct the event,” Bowlsby said. “These are unusual times and we’ve taken the steps that we think are appropriate.”

UP NEXT

Iowa State’s season is over.

Oklahoma State advanced to play the No. 1 Jayhawks in the quarterfinals.