Feb 28, 2017; Ames, IA, USA; Iowa State Cyclones senior guard Matt Thomas (21), guard Nazareth Mitrou-Long (15), guard Monte Morris (11) and guard Deonte Burton (30) watch the post game video after beating the Oklahoma State Cowboys at James H. Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones beat the Cowboys 86 to 83. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
The following is a press release courtesy of Iowa State athletics communications.
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State senior guard Monté Morris led four Cyclones recognized by the league’s coaches on the Phillips 66 All-Big 12 teams.
Morris earned a spot on the first team, while Nazareth Mitrou-Long was on the second team, Deonte Burton the third team and Matt Thomas was an honorable mention selection.
Morris, a Flint, Michigan native, earns unanimous first-team honors after being a second-team pick as a sophomore and junior. He is leading Iowa State with 16.2 points and 6.2 assists. Morris is also pulling down 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals. He has scored in double figures in 26 games this season, including a career-best 30 points against Oklahoma in January. Morris owns the nation’s best assist-to-turnover ratio at 6.2, recording just 1.0 turnovers per game. In December, Morris recorded the fifth triple-double in school history with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against The Citadel.
This marks the fourth consecutive season that Iowa State has had a player represented on the first team.
In his fifth season at Iowa State, Mitrou-Long is having his best season as a Cyclone. The Mississauga, Ontario native is second on the team with 16.0 points, while making 89 three-pointers. Mitrou-Long missed much of the 2015-16 season following hip surgery and returned for his fifth year, scoring in double figures 27 times. He leads all Power-5 players with five games hitting at least six three-pointers.
Deonte Burton has excelled in his first season as a starter for the Cyclones, averaging 14.4 points and a career-high 6.2 rebounds. He is one of just two players nationally with at least 50 steals and 40 blocks, and just the second in ISU history to record 40 steals and 40 blocks in a season (Lafester Rhodes, 1988). Burton scored 20 or more points in nine games, including 31 points at Oklahoma and a memorable 29-point performance in ISU’s upset win of Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. Against the Jayhawks, Burton hit 7-of-9 three-pointers.
Matt Thomas has joined Mitrou-Long in forming one of the best shooting duos in school history. Thomas, who was also an honorable mention pick last season, is averaging a career-best 12.2 points and shooting 43.6 percent behind the arc. The Onalaska, Wisconsin native has hit 78 3-pointers, including seven games with four or more three-pointers. Thomas matched his career high with 25 points when he hit seven threes against Oklahoma State on Senior Night last Tuesday.
Kansas’ Frank Mason was named the league’s player of the year, while Josh Jackson was the freshman of the year and Bill Self the coach of the year for the Jayhawks. West Virginia took home the defensive and sixth man award with Jevon Carter and Tarik Phillip being recognized, respectively. Baylor’s Manu Lecomte was the newcomer of the year.
Complete league awards
