Morris’ buzzer-beater lifts Cyclones over Texas to Big 12 tourney semis

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Monte Morris rose up and hit an 18-foot jumper at the buzzer, capping a 12-0 closing run that lifted No. 13 Iowa State to a 69-67 victory over Texas in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament Thursday night.

Morris finished with 24 points for the second-seeded Cyclones (23-8), who trailed by 16 points before clawing back into the game. Still, Iowa State trailed 67-57 with less than 4 minutes to go when it unleashed a full-court press that helped it draw even.

Morris’s 3-pointer with 1:42 left tied it at 67, and the teams swapped empty possessions before Texas (20-13) got the ball back with 38.1 seconds left.

Isaiah Taylor allowed the shot clock to melt down before driving the lane and missing a running jumper. Texas got the rebound and kicked it out to Javan Felix, but he misfired on a long 3-pointer and the Cyclones’ Dustin Hogue grabbed the long rebound and called timeout.

With 5.8 seconds left, Hogue took the inbounds pass and raced up court, found Morris in the corner, and the sophomore guard calmly rose up over the Longhorns’ Demarcus Holland for the game-winning shot — sending the Cyclones streaming off the bench into a jubilant pile.

Georges Niang added 22 points for the defending tournament champion Cyclones, who advanced to play the Oklahoma in the semifinals Friday night. The Sooners ousted Oklahoma State, 64-49, Thursday in the late game.

Holmes finished with 15 points, Taylor had 13 and Felix 10 for the No. 7 seed Longhorns, who now must wait to see whether they’ve earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

In the other two quarterfinal games, No. 9 Kansas outlasted TCU, 64-59 and No. 16 Baylor got past No. 18 West Virginia, 80-70. Kansas plays Baylor in Friday’s semifinals.