Saturday’s 11 a.m. tip at Oklahoma was exactly what everybody anticipated – a dogfight. That is life on the road. Iowa State trailed Oklahoma by as many as 13 in the second half and eventually fought back to take the lead, but could not close and lost to the Sooners by an 87-82 final.
Iowa State (14-1, 2-1) dropping its first game of the season turned out to be a bit of a side story though. Late in the contest, All-American candidate guard DeAndre Kane went down with a left ankle injury.
Early reports out of Norman state that Kane’s ankle is not broken.
“X-Ray comes back negative for Kane (no break) but status for Monday is uncertain,” tweeted Travis Hines from the Ames Tribune.
Hines then tweeted…
"ISU athletic trainer Vic Miller says Kane’s ankle sprain is lateral (not the dreaded high) and that structurally it’s fine."
Kane finished the game with 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
The game itself
The Cyclones looked sluggish on defense and to Oklahoma’s credit, the Sooners took advantage of that time and time again. Buddy Hield buried a team-high six 3-pointers on the day for an Oklahoma team that went 13-for-30 from long range.
Most importantly, Oklahoma snagged 11 offensive rebounds, a stat that proved to be key in Iowa State’s defeat as the Sooners recorded 22 second chance points to Iowa State’s four. Gonzaga transfer Ryan Spangler had 15 rebounds total in the game for the Sooners.
While Kane led the Cyclones in scoring, Melvin Ejim had 21 with Georges Niang and Dustin Hogue chipping in 14 and 13 a piece.
According to a postgame tweet from @ESPNStatsInfo, Iowa State made 71 percent of its 2-point field goals in the game (28-29). However, the Cyclones went 6-for-26 from 3-point range, which was key.
Up next
Of course, all eyes will be on the progress of DeAndre Kane’s ankle. The bad news is that Iowa State’s next game will take place in two days, when Kansas will invade Hilton Coliseum on Monday at 8 p.m.
The good news however is that if Kane does have to miss time, Iowa State only has three games between now and Jan. 29 due to a bye.
