No. 17 Oklahoma handles No. 14 Iowa State to vault to second place in Big 12

NORMAN, Okla. – Iowa State left Oklahoma's Lloyd Noble Center the way it has left it all too many times during recent years – with a loss.

Monday's 94-83 defeat against the Sooners was the Cyclones' 10th setback in their past 11 games at the less-than-full arena, and it had nothing to do with home court intimidation.

Iowa State's loss was all about Oklahoma playing better – especially on the offensive end of the floor. The Sooners scored on 19 of their first 28 second-half possessions. That's a tough obstacle, wherever the game is played.

The Cyclones, who fell from 11th to 14th on the Associated Press poll, saw their records tumble to 7-4 in the Big 12 Conference and 17-6 overall heading into Saturday's 3 p.m. game against West Virginia at Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State led by 10 points in the first half. The Cyclones trailed by 20 with 4:11 to play.

Just another trip to Norman.

Oklahoma made Iowa State pay for sloppy ball-handling while scoring seven points in a row to forge a 46-all score at halftime. The Cyclones led 46-39 before the rash of errors that included three turnovers and five missed shots in the final 2:22 of the half.

Coach Fred Hoiberg stayed with the hot starting lineup, continuing to use Jameel McKay instead of Bryce Dejean-Jones during the beginning of his team's third straight Big Monday appearance.

McKay started Saturday's 75-38 victory against Texas Tech after Dejean-Jones was late for a pre-game practice. He responded with 17 points while making all seven of his shot attempts in his starting debut, while also grabbing eight rebounds and blocking three shots.

"The big thing for me, it's not who starts, it's who's in there at the end, who finishes the game for you," Hoiberg said on the Big 12 teleconference Monday morning. "We'll see how it plays out."

It played out all right, with McKay scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds during the first 20 minutes. Dejean-Jones entered the game 4 ½ minutes after it started, but as a replacement for Georges Niang, who has been battling an Achilles problem.

The hotly-contested first half included four lead chances and seven ties. It also included nifty 3-point shooting for the Cyclones, who made 9 of 14 from deep, including a combined 8 of 10 by Dustin Hogue, Naz Long, and Dejean-Jones.

The Sooners extended the run of points, scoring the first six points of the second half. The Cyclones never recovered.

Randy Peterson writes for The Des Moines Register.