Houston held to fewest points by AP no. 1 seed since 1982 in Big 12 title game loss to Iowa State

On Saturday, the Big 12 men’s college basketball conference tournament was decided between the top two teams in the conference this season. The regular-season champions and top team in the nation, the Houston Cougars, faced off against the No. 7 team in the nation, Iowa State.

The contest was a battle between two of the top defenses in the country this year. However, only Iowa State’s defense was up to the challenge on Saturday. The Cyclones beat the Cougars 69-41, completely dominating the nation’s top team and capturing the Big 12 tournament title. According to ESPN, Houston’s 41 points was the lowest point total by an AP No. 1 Seed team since 1982, over 42 years ago.

In the first half, Houston started off well taking a 6-2 lead. Unfortunately, that would be their largest lead of the contest as the Cyclones would come roaring back to take a seven-point 30-23 lead into halftime. After the intermission, things went from bad to worse for the top team in the nation as they were held to just five points in the first 13 minutes of the second half. At that juncture, the game was pretty much decided as Iowa State had a 56-28 28-point lead.

As stingy as Iowa State’s defense was, the offense also showed up and made sure that the game remained out of reach for Houston. The Cyclones shot an impressive 50 percent from the field and were 9-22 from behind the arc. The lone blemish on Iowa State’s offensive performance on the night came in the free-throw shooting department, where the Cyclones shot just under 60 percent from the charity stripe, connecting on 10-17 free throws.

Houston, in the words of legendary Los Angeles Lakers play-by-play announcer Chick Hearn, ‘couldn’t throw a pea into the ocean.’ The Cougars shot an abysmal 26% from the field, connecting on just 15 other 56 shot attempts.

While it was hands down the worst performance Houston put together this season, it does little to change their seeding for this year’s tournament. Heading into the Big 12 championship game, Houston was a 1-seed and favored to be the top seed. After the loss, the Cougars are still viewed as a 1-seed. As for Iowa State, they are still viewed as a 2-seed for this year’s championship tournament.