Iowa State Registers Big Win Over Purdue, 83-80

LAS VEGAS, Nev.? Wesley Johnson and Jiri Hubalek scored 29 of Iowa State's 46 second half points to help the Cyclones hang on to an 83-80 win over Purdue in the third round of the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic Saturday night in Las Vegas. The Cyclones will play in the championship game tomorrow night against Alabama at 9:30 CST.

“We have really grown since the Drake game,” ISU head coach Greg McDermott said. “Obviously, we hit rock bottom there and we have recovered from that. This team has never pointed fingers. This was certainly a great win for us tonight.”

The Cyclones built a 60-48 lead with 12:22 remaining in the game when Diante Garrett made a driving lay-in. Hubalek was the main cause for ISU's lead, scoring the first 16 points of the second half for the Cyclones behind a trio of 3-pointers. But Purdue fought back. The Boilermakers took its first lead of the second period on a pair of free-throws from Scott Martin to give the Boilermakers a 69-67 advantage with less than five minutes left.

Then Wesley Johnson took over. The sophomore made a huge putback off a Hubalek miss to tie the game at 69-all and then made a driving shot and converted a 3-point play on ISU's next possession to make it a 72-70 game with 2:39 left. On ISU's ensuing possession, Johnson made a nifty dribble-drive jumper to put ISU up for good at 74-70 with 2:07 remaining. ISU finished the game making 9-of-its-last-12 free-throws to seal its fourth-straight victory and improve to 7-4 overall.

When the victors converged to the locker room, the first call made was to Lucca Staiger. The team dedicated the victory to its teammate who was denied his final appeal by the NCAA earlier in the morning.

“I think our team has been really focused and we have been making better decisions,” McDermott added. “Diante (Garrett) got into the teeth of their defense. He is getting better every day and he has made some great strides.”

McDermott was referring to the strong play from his rookie point guard who came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points. Garrett, who tied a career-high with five assists, changed the game with his ability to get into the paint.

The Cyclones got hot midway through the first half after staking Purdue a 9-3 lead in the early going. Freshmen Craig Brackins and Garrett were responsible for ISU success in the first half. Brackins scored ISU first seven points and Garrett scored a pair of layups to help the Cyclones take a 34-29 lead with under five minutes left in the first half. Brackins and Garrett ended the half with 10 and 11 points, respectively.

Purdue then went on an 8-0 run to go ahead 37-34 with 1:17 left in the opening period. Three free-throws by ISU tied the score at 37-37 at the break. ISU hung around in the first half by making 10-of-14 shots from the foul line, while Purdue did not attempt a free-throw in the first half.

ISU had five players reach double figures, led by Hubalek's 18 points. Bryan Petersen had five points and five assists with no turnovers. Petersen has 17 assists and 0 turnovers in his last four games. ISU finished the game making a season-high 24 free-throws.

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Team Stats

Jiri Hubalek

Wesley Johnson

Diante Garrett

Rahshon Clark

Players Mentioned

Craig Brackins

Diante Garrett

Jiri Hubalek

Jiri Hubalek

Wesley Johnson

Wesley Johnson

Bryan Petersen

Lucca Staiger

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics