No. 23 BYU knocks off No. 10 Iowa State in double OT thriller

It was not pretty; it was gritty, but the Cougars pulled off their biggest win of the season Tuesday night in an instant college basketball classic.

The No. 23 BYU Cougars upset the No. 10 Iowa State Cyclones 88-85 in a double overtime thriller in Ames, Iowa.

With the win, BYU extended its win streak to seven in a row and is now in the driver's seat for fourth place in the Big 12, an enormous accomplishment for Kevin Young in his first season at BYU. The Cougars, now 13-6 in the Big 12, have won 11 of their last 13 games and are one of the hottest teams in the country.

The game was one of the wildest basketball games in BYU history and was insane from start to finish. Coming into the game, Iowa State was 19-1 this season when fully healthy and the Cyclones were at full strength Tuesday night. To pull off the upset, BYU had to endure the seesaw of momentum changes and push through exhaustion to emerge victorious.

Despite turning it over a season-high 29 times, BYU stayed in the fight and made plays when it needed them the most. Much-maligned for its poor free throw shooting this season, it was not the case Tuesday night.

BYU was 25 of 31 from the free-throw line. Richie Saunders was the main catalyst and went 14 of 14 from the charity stripe, including two clutch free throws in the last 20 seconds of regulation. He scored 23 points to lead BYU and played 47 out of 50 minutes of game play.

The Cougars have gotten contributions from everyone this season and needed everyone to beat the Cyclones. On Tuesday, it was Dallin Hall's turn to be the hero, with Egor Demin struggling to break Iowa State's pressure for most of the game. Hall scored a season-high 22 points on 7 of 13 field goals, and was 4 of 9 from 3. Battling through what appeared to be cramping in his legs, Hall hit big shot after big shot at the end of regulation and overtime.

Keba Keita was spectacular all game as well. He finished with 7 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks. He was nightmare for Iowa State on the boards and was a force inside, deterring Cyclones away from the basket the entire night. His relentless effort saved BYU over and over again and produced one of the best defensive plays in program history.

Now to the game.

The Cougars started dreadfully and turned it over eight times in the first eight minutes but stayed in the game due to their defense keeping Iowa State out of the paint.

Down 14-5, the Cougars eventually found their rhythm by getting stops and playing fast. Saunders and Mawot Mag were unstoppable in getting to the basket in transition. Following a quiet evening against West Virginia, Mag made his presence felt at the end of the first half as he forced two steals in the last two minutes and converted multiple transition layups.

BYU led 33-24 at halftime and had seized control of the game for the moment.

Out of halftime, BYU started the same way they finished the first half... on fire. The Cougars hit four 3s in the first five minutes of the second half coming from Mag, Trevin Knell, Saunders and Hall. The lead sprouted to 21 after a surprising, yet thunderous, alley-oop dunk from Trey Stewart to Hall.

It looked like BYU might cruise to an impressive, dominating win on the road, but Iowa State battled back. Led by its defense, the Cyclones again turned up the heat on the Cougars and forced turnover after turnover. Milan Momcilovic and Keshon Gilbert took advantage on the other end. What once was a 21-point lead, evaporated to five, with the Cougars clinging to a 63-58 lead with under four minutes in regulation.

The Cougars and Cyclones were in a dog fight and the toughest team physically and mentally would be the winner. The Cougars never relinquished the lead until it was up 66-63 with under a minute to go. Momcilovic, as he had done all night, hit a back-breaking 3 for Iowa State to tie the game.

On the ensuing possession, BYU called a timeout to let Young cook. Out of the timeout, Saunders ran from beyond half court and caught a handoff going downhill and was fouled at the rim. Saunders knocked in both free throws and all BYU needed was a stop. But Iowa State dailed up a slip screen for Joshua Jefferson and he was fouled at the rim. He knocked both free throws in and it was tied at 68-68 at the end of regulation.

After struggling all night, Demin finally found some confidence in overtime and connected on a 3 to push BYU ahead 71-68. The Cyclones responded and seized a 73-72 lead before Hall knocked in one of his many clutch shots from behind the arc to put BYU back up 75-73. But as had been the case all night, turnovers were the Cougars undoing.

They turned it over multiple times leading to Cyclone runouts. Down 79-77 after a Jefferson layup the Cougars did not call a timeout in the final seconds. With their defensive lineup on the floor, Demin still found his way to the basket for a layup to force double overtime.

Tired, exhausted but determined both teams battled in the second overtime and BYU had more juice to close it out. The Cougars forced back-to-back turnovers to start the second overtime and jumped out to an 85-81 lead following a Keita putback.

Then, Iowa State ran out of gas, the Cyclones fouled Demin forty feet away from the basket and could not get any shot to fall on offense. Up 87-85, the Cougars stifled the Cyclones one last time as a desparation corner 3 from Momcilovic fell short and BYU had finally won.

The Cyclones gave the Cougars everything they could handle, as five players scored in double figures led by Jefferson's 19 points, and Momcilovic's 18. They scored 34 points of BYU turnovers but it still was not enough.

BYU walked off the court a winner because of its toughness, its will and its refusal to lose. The Cougars connectivity, across its deep roster, put together an all time performance that proves this team can play with anyone in the country.

One month ago, the Cougars sat on the bubble, hopeful to just make the NCAA tournament. Now, with feet firmly planted in the Big Dance, BYU is still ascending. The Cougars postseason ready, with an opportunity to do something special.