Iowa State Pulls Off Shocking Upset of Kansas State in OT

Sports News - March 7th, 2010 - Written By Bryan Cross

If any team were to upset a ranked opponent on the road, selecting Iowa State would be unlikely. That is because entering their match up against No. 5 Kansas State, the Cyclones boasted a 7-104 record on the road against top-25 teams. After Saturday, 8-104.

Iowa State dethroned the Wildcats 85-82 in overtime behind season making efforts from Craig Brackens, who had 19 points and Diante Garrett, who have five points in the overtime session.

"It's a great win," remarked Iowa State head coach Greg McDermott. "I hadn't beaten a ranked team in my time at Iowa State and people were kind enough to remind me of that often. So this is good to get that one over with."

The Cyclones struggled this season, particularly in conference play. They combined for a 4-12 in-conference record, and are seeded 11th in the Big 12 post season tournament.

Iowa State led for most of the game until the final seconds in which Kansas State guard Denis Clemente knocked down a 3-pointer to knot it up at 74.

Garret took the game in his hands in overtime for the Cyclones however, getting the first bucket, and never relinquished the lead.

In addition to Garret, the Cyclones got solid efforts from both Scott Christopherson, who had 18 points and Maruis Gilstrap, who had 13. Up 1-point with 3.2 seconds remaining, Christopherson was fouled and clinched the game from the charity stripe.

"They were switching up ball screens, so I had a mismatch with their bigs and I just took advantage of it," Garrett said after the game. "This just gives us motivation to go into the tournament."

The loss for the Wildcats hurts in more ways than one. This is their second straight defeat following a loss to Kansas. It also hurts Kansas State's bid for a top-seed in the NCAA tournament, which is now unlikely.

"I thought we were real good at practice yesterday, but I think some of our inconsistencies during the course of the year kind of showed their ugly heads today," remarked Kansas State head coach Frank Martin. "My hat's off to Greg McDermott. As disappointed as I am in our guys, I'm extremely happy for him, happy for those kids. With all the close losses they've had this year, [McDermott] continues to get those kids to play as hard as he does. I'm real happy for Greg."

Kansas State was also looking to record their best regular season win total in school history.

"We lost three home games," said Martin "That's who we are. We're not a championship-level team in the Big 12 because we can't win at home."

Kansas State shot only 34 percent from the floor and were never able to get in front of Iowa State.

"I know why we won this game," Brackins said after the game. "We were relentless. We didn't stop. We didn't let things get to us. I felt like we missed some free throws, but we nailed some when they were at the right time."

With the 2010 NCAA Tournament is around the corner, College Basketball Betting Lines are favoring Kentucky, Syracuse and Kansas to claim the national championship.