Iowa State dismantles, then routs top-ranked Houston

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Milan Momcilovic scored 18 points as No. 7 Iowa State dominated No. 1 Houston 69-41 Saturday night in the Big 12 tournament final in front of a largely partisan Iowa State crowd.

Iowa State is the only school to have played in the tournament title game and never lost. The Cyclones are now 6-0 all-time in tournament championship games.

It was expected defensive struggle between the two best scoring defenses in the Big 12 and two of the top five in Division I, but this game was all Iowa State. The Cyclones held Houston to just 26.8 percent (15-of-56) from the field.

The Cyclones shot 25-of-50 against the nation's best field-goal percentage defense.

No. 2-seed Iowa State (27-7) also got 16 points from Keshon Gilbert and 13 from Hason Ward.

Houston (30-4), the top seed in the tournament and likely still a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, was led by Jamal Shead with 10 points.

Iowa State scored the first 10 points of the second half to turn a seven-point halftime lead into a 17-point margin. The Cougars never got within single digits the rest of the game, and the Cyclones extended the lead to as many as 32 points.

Iowa State controlled the first half, both on offense and defense.

In their first two games combined, the Cougars outscored their opponents 37-8 in the first 10 minutes of the game. But Saturday night, it was Iowa State that opened an early lead. The Cougars' last lead of the half was at 11-9.

The Cyclones led by as many as nine points at 30-21 with just over a minute remaining in the half before taking a 30-23 lead into the locker room. Iowa State was led by Gilbert with nine points. Shead and LJ Cryer led Houston with seven points each.

The Cyclones held Houston to just 28.1 percent (9-of-32) from the field before halftime, including just 2-of-11 from 3-point range. Meanwhile, the Cyclones connected on 12-of-26 (46.2 percent), including 5-of-11 from long range.

-David Smale, Field Level Media