Bolton, Haliburton lead Iowa State romp past Oklahoma, 81-68

ROB GRAY, Associated Press

AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State coach Steve Prohm planned to change his starting lineup and give his bench more playing time in Saturday night’s 81-68 win over Oklahoma.

Both moves proved to be productive.

“I wanted to give the bench a chance to play, see if they could give us a spark, and they did,” Prohm said.

Rasir Bolton led the Cyclones (8-7, 1-2 Big 12) with 23 points and his less-used teammates provided a much-needed boost throughout, outscoring the Sooners’ backups, 28-13 – including 18-0 in the first half.

Iowa State reserve Tre Jackson scored a career-high 12 points on 4 of 5 shooting from beyond the arc and fellow backup Terrence Lewis added 10 points.

Jackson hadn’t made more than one 3-pointer in a game since hitting two in a 104-89 win over Alabama on Nov. 28 in the Bahamas.

“My confidence is always high,” Jackson said. “I’m going to keep on shooting any time I get the ball.

Tyrese Haliburton chipped in 15 points and a game-high eight assists for Iowa State, which was coming off a 26-point home loss to Kansas on Wednesday.

“We had to come together,” said Bolton, who also had six assists. “We just had to stay together as a team and keep fighting.”

The Cyclones closed the first half on a 12-0 run capped by a 30-foot buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Haliburton to take a 42-25 lead.

Iowa State then used a 9-0 spurt early in the second half to build a 26-point lead and the Sooners never cut the deficit to single digits.

“We didn’t respond like you have to respond against a team that’s playing hard, playing well and making shots,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said.

Brady Manek led the Sooners with 17 points and Kristian Doolittle added 14 points and five rebounds.

The Cyclones outscored the Sooners 15-0 in fast break points and 32-9 in points off turnovers.

Oklahoma didn’t secure a single offensive rebound in the first half while falling behind by 17 points. The Sooners finished with a season-low three offensive boards.

“It hopefully shows that when we compete on the defensive end – we gave up three offensive rebounds the whole game and that’s terrific,” Prohm said. “And we really should have had those three. So that was huge.”

BIG PICTURE

Oklahoma: The Sooners haven’t won at Hilton Coliseum to 2011, so the outcome was familiar. But they missed a prime opportunity to start 3-0 in conference play for the first time since 2013 and were out-rebounded, 35-25.

Iowa State: The Cyclones desperately needed a win, especially at home, after losing 79-53 to Kansas on Wednesday. Iowa State sped up its substitution pattern to spread minutes out more freely and it paid off.

HE SAID IT

“We’ve got to learn from it. That’s the way the Big 12 is. You’re going to have 18 battles during the course of the year; every one’s a unique one. You’ve got to brush it off, get better and learn from it. We’ve got a lot to learn from this one, that’s for sure.” – Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger

STAR WATCH

Doolittle, who entered the game averaging 17.3 points and nine rebounds, finished with fewer than 19 points for just the second time in the past seven games. His five rebounds were his second-lowest total in a game this season.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma: Hosts No. 3 Kansas on Tuesday.

Iowa State: Plays at No. 4 Baylor on Wednesday.