Cryer’s 28 leads No. 5 Houston past No. 8 ISU
Feb 22, 2025, 05:14 PM ET HOUSTON– L.J. Cryer scored 28 points, Milos Uzan included 19 points and No. 5 Houston hung on to beat No. 8 Iowa State 68-59 on Saturday.Cryer and Uzan integrated to shoot 18 of 27, consisting of 8 of 12 on 3-pointers. Emanuel Sharp added 11 points for Houston(23-4, 15-1 Huge 12 ), which won its sixth straight.The Cyclones had a hard time offensively at times without
their 2 leading scorers– Keshon Gilbert was out with a muscle strain and Curtis Jones missed the game due to health problem– but they succeeded defensively, forcing Houston into a season-high 17 turnovers.Editor’s Picks 1 Related Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson tipped his cap to the shorthanded Cyclones.”When you’re missing out on players, they simply discover a method to contend,”stated Sampson.”We got up, I believe, what was our biggest lead in the 2nd half? 16? Yeah, and they come bang a couple of 3s and it goes from 16 to 10. We simply, they made some huge shots too. “” If they existed, I indicate, they weren’t there and that wasn’t, that runs out our control at the end of the day,”
Cryer stated of the upstart Cyclones. “We knew last year that they beat us two times while we only won one time, so entering into the game, we sort of kept that in mind and we had to get that bad taste out our mouth.”Milan Momcilovic scored all 16 of his points in the second half to lead a furious rally for the Cyclones(21-6, 11-5). Nate Heise included 12 points, and Tamin Lipsey scored 11. Routing by 16 midway through the second half, the Cyclones used an 18-3 go to cut the cause 48-47 on a 3-pointer by Heise with 8 minutes remaining. Houston responded with 4 straight indicate press the lead back to five.Houston shot 53% and went 10 of 17 from distance, while Iowa State shot 39 %, including 8 of 20 behind the arc.”Hey, look, guy, we’re 15-1. We’re 15-1. That’s not, let’s not sit here and slice and dice being 15-1,”Sampson added.With the win, the Cougars inched closer to a 2nd straight Big 12 regular-season title.
They presently lead second-place Arizona by 2 1/2 games with 4 games left. Houston is 30-4 in the Big 12 in its 2 seasons in the league.Houston takes a trip to No. 9 Texas Tech on Monday while Iowa State takes on Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Tuesday.Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.