White sinks basket in final seconds, Iowa State Cyclones beat Wildcats

The K-State men's basketball team did everything it needed to Tuesday night except win the game. For the second time in a week "Hilton Magic" struck in Ames, Iowa. This time the Iowa State Cyclones took down the K-State Wildcats in the closing seconds after Cyclone sophomore forward Royce White hit a jumper along the baseline with 1.8 seconds left, giving Iowa State the 72-70 victory.

K-State controlled much of the game and led by 14 points with 14 minutes left to go in the game but Iowa State (16-6, 6-3) would not be denied its fourth win in its last five games.

The Cyclones' defense began to stiffen up and limited K-State's opportunities on the offensive end of the court. Cyclone senior guard Chris Allen connected on a 3-pointer that cut the Wildcats' lead down to two at 60-58 with 7:53 left in the game, but Wildcat sophomore guard Will Spradling answered at the other end with a 3-pointer of his own to take the Wildcats lead back up to five.

In the final minutes of the game, junior guard Rodney McGruder drove the lane and put up a shot that could have drawn a foul, but the referees chose to let the game play on.

Moments later, a White bucket made it 70-69 K-State, then the Cyclones got a stop and junior guard Chris Babb was fouled with 49 seconds left. He only made one free throw which tied the game, but Iowa State got the offensive rebound after Babb missed the second free throw. The rebound gave the Cyclones the opportunity for a final shot and White delivered for Iowa State.

White had several key plays throughout the game that included a highlight reel of thunderous dunks on the Wildcats' defense on his way to leading the Cyclones in scoring with 22 points. He also contributed by adding eight rebounds and four assists.

Allen had 15 points for the Cyclones and senior guard Scott Christopherson had 11 points for Iowa State.

K-State (15-6, 4-5) was led by freshmen forward Thomas Gipson who had 13 points and seven rebounds in just 22 minutes.

The Wildcats also had key contributions from McGruder, senior forward Jamar Samuels, and junior guard Martavious Irving who each scored 11 points, respectively.

The loss for the Wildcats is their second straight and comes at the beginning of what is sure to be a tough part of the Big 12 schedule.

K-State will face off against Texas A&M at home on Saturday and will again be at home against Texas Tech next Tuesday. Those two games will be key as the Wildcats' next four games, after those two home matchups, include a trip to Austin for a rematch against the Texas Longhorns followed by a home game against the Kansas Jayhawks, then back-to-back road games at Baylor and Missouri.

This loss surely stings, but the Wildcats can't let if affect how they play in the near future. K-State lost three out of four games earlier in the Big 12 schedule but came back to win three straight games. The Wildcats will now try to identify, learn from and correct their mistakes in order to get this season back on track.  

If the team needs further evidence that a turn-around is possible, it can look to the past. Last season K-State was in a slump in Big 12 play but was able to win its final six games to close the regular season.

Simply put, the Wildcats have done it before. They can do it again.

Jared Brown is a senior in marketing. Please send comments to sports@kstatecollegian.com.