Iowa State routs top-ranked Houston to win fifth Big 12 Tournament title in past 10 years

Iowa State put on a dominant display Saturday, leading for all but three minutes on its way to a 69-41 blowout of Houston in the Big 12 Tournament Championship. The loss marked the fourth of the season for the Cougars, with two of those coming against the Cyclones.

The Big 12 Tournament Championship is the fifth for Iowa State in the past 10 years. The Cyclones have now earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they are projected to be a No. 2 seed according to On3 bracketologist James Fletcher III.

Houston trailed by only seven points at halftime but couldn’t buy a bucket in the second half as the deficit grew out of control. The Cougars managed to score only 18 points in the final 20 minutes while shooting just 25% from the field. Milan Momcilovic led Iowa State with 18 points to go along with six rebounds in the victory.

The Cyclones opened up the second half on a 10-0 run as Houston did not score its first points until over three minutes in. They continued to build upon that advantage, increasing it to more than 30 as the Cougars scored only five points in the first 13 minutes of the half. There was a five-minute stretch in which Houston did not score a single point.

Jamal Shead was the only Cougars player to score in double figures with 10 points on just 3-of-17 shooting. Emanuel Sharp, who entered the contest averaging 12.5 points per game, was held scoreless on 0-of-7 from the floor.

Houston led briefly at the beginning of the first half, but that wouldn’t last long as Iowa State quickly jumped out in front. The Cyclones went ahead for good after Curtis Jones hit a 3-points with 11:42 to go in the first, never trailing from that point on.

Iowa State’s defense was as good as it could be in the win, holding the Cougars to just 26.8% shooting in the game and forcing 12 turnovers. The 41 points were the fewest Houston has scored in any game this season.

Houston won’t be in too bad of shape despite the lopsided loss, as it still stands a good chance to earn a No. 1 seed based on their overall resume. However, it now won’t be the guarantee that it would have been had they managed to win the NCAA Tournament.

Both teams will find out their seeding and matchups when the tournament field is announced at 6 p.m. ET on CBS.