By: Connor Ferguson
The Iowa State Cyclones Men’s Basketball team was down by 14 points to Texas Tech on Friday. 13:27 was left on the clock at Hilton Coliseum.
That’s when the Magic happened, or for the non-superstitious: a lineup with four guards that just refused to lose.
Donovan Jackson was put at the point, while Monte Morris got the call at the two position. Naz Mitrou-Long and Nick Weiler-Babb filled the three and four spots, while Solomon Young had the five.
The lineup put together a 25-8 run, and at one point held Texas Tech scoreless for 7:10.
“Leading up to this game, coach put a lot of preparation in our four-guard lineup,” Mitrou-Long said. “We’ve been saying it all year that we’re going to really rely on it at times, and that was the deal breaker right there. We just buckled down, and we bodied on boxing out and playing defense, and that’s what won us the game.”
Prohm stuck to this lineup for most of the final 14 minutes and cited that Matt Thomas was kept on the bench due to a non-serious foot injury.
Not to mention Bowie, and Merrill Holden, who hadn’t produced much during the game.
“Whether you’re coaching guys that are small or big, it’s about production and doing what needs to be done on the floor,” Prohm said. “Those guys executed on the offensive end and dominated on the defensive end.”
Iowa State held Texas Tech to 26% shooting during the second half.
“Who’s producing, take your jerseys off and who’s producing right now. Solomon Young was producing tonight, Donovan Jackson though his numbers didn’t strike you… he was producing.”
The Cyclones escaped with a 63-56 win, to start 1-0 in conference play.
