Cyclones Fall To Hot Shooting Alabama, 83-68

LAS VEGAS, Nev.? Alabama made an ISU opponent-high 54.4 percent from the floor and connected on 11-of-16 shots from downtown en route to an 83-68 win over Iowa State in the championship game of the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic Sunday night. The loss drops ISU to 7-5 and ends its four-game winning streak.

“Alabama is a good basketball team and tonight they were a good basketball team that shot it well,” ISU head coach Greg McDermott said. “We had to give up something to provide a little help on (Richard) Hendrix, and they made us pay for that.”

The first half was a shootout, with both teams achieving above 50 percent shooting. Alabama went up 26-19 with 9:04 left in the opening period after Alonzo Gee drilled a trey. Gee had 12 first half points to pace the Crimson Tide.

ISU got back into the game by making 6-of-12 3-pointers in the opening period. Bryan Petersen made back-to-back treys to tie the game at 36-36 with 3:10 remaining before intermission. Petersen made three treys in the first half and Wesley Johnson nailed a trio of 3-pointers en route to 11 first half points, as the Cyclones evened the score at 40-40 at the break. UA shot 56 percent from the floor and ISU converted on 51.7 percent of its shot in the first half.

UA continued its hot shooting in the second half, taking a 78-62 lead with 4:30 left in the game. The Crimson Tide opened the half on a 9-2 run to go ahead 49-42 after another basket from Gee. The closest ISU got in the second half was at the 11:24 mark when Craig Brackins made a turnaround shot in the paint to cut the Crimson Tide lead to 61-56 with 11:24 left. Gee finished with a game-high 23 points for Alabama.

Wesley Johnson led ISU with 20 points, his second 20-point effort of his career and first of the season. UA outrebounded ISU, 34-27, ending ISU's three-game streak of outrebounding its opponent. Rahshon Clark and Jiri Hubalek added eight points each in the loss. Both were named to the all-tournament team.

ISU has a week off for the Holidays before its next game, a Dec. 30 showdown vs. Albany in Hilton Coliseum.

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Team Stats

Wesley Johnson

Diante Garrett

Bryan Petersen

Rahshon Clark

Players Mentioned

Craig Brackins

Rahshon Clark

Rahshon Clark

Jiri Hubalek

Jiri Hubalek

Wesley Johnson

Wesley Johnson

Bryan Petersen

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics