Nova, Iowa State Blow 4-point Leads in Final 30 Seconds, Hurt Chances at Bids

Nova, Iowa State Blow 4-point Leads in Final 30 Seconds, Hurt Chances at Bids

Villanova and Iowa State both took four point leads with less than 30 seconds left Monday to give them golden opportunities to move from the “Middle 20” that might make the tournament toward the “42 locks” for the tournament. But in two stunning endings, No. 6 Kansas ended Iowa State’s 22-game winning streak and Seton Hall ended their own losing streak.

In the Villanova game, Mouphtaou Yarou grabbed 15 rebounds and his 14th point with 27 seconds to make it 65-61. They fouled Fuquan Edwin with 16 seconds to play, and he sunk both free throws to pull Seton Hall within 65-63.

Seton Hall then slapped the fullcourt press on, and Tom Maayan stole the ball from Nova’s James Bell out of a backcourt trap, threw the ball to Edwin, who drained a three-pointer to give Seton Hall the 66-65 win.

Iowa State appeared to do the same when Korie Lucious made it 22 free throws in a row for Iowa State to give them a 89-85 lead with 23 seconds left. However, Kansas’ Travis Releford found Elijah Johnson open for a deep three-pointer off a pick to cut it to 89-88 with 15 seconds left, and four seconds later Lucious finally missed a free throw, making the second to leave the score 90-88.

Johnson then drove down the court, and with five seconds left collided near the basket with Iowa State’s Georges Niang, but to the dismay of the home crowd who wanted a charge, there was no call.

After the two fell to the floor the ball fell into the arms of Johnson who was laying near the baseline, and at that point Niang was called for a foul with five seconds left.

Johnson made both free throws to send the game into overtime at 90-90, and Kansas pulled away for the 108-96 lead.as he finished with 39 points.

The win kept Kansas tied in first with K-State, which won against hapless Texas Tech.

Big 12 Standings

Kansas 12-3, 24-4

K-State 12-3, 23-5

Oklahoma St. 10-4, 20-6

Iowa St. 9-6, 19-9

Oklahoma 9-5, 18-8

Baylor 7-7, 16-11

West Virginia 6-8, 13-14

Texas 4-10, 12-15

Texas Tech 2-13, 9-17

TCU 1-13, 10-17

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