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No. 19 Virginia Falls to Iowa St., 81-79
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Dec. 6, 2004
By CHUCK SCHOFFNER
AP Sports Writer
AMES, Iowa (AP) – Curtis Stinson scored 30 points, including the go-ahead3-pointer with 18.6 seconds left, and Jared Homan followed with a big defensiveplay, lifting Iowa State to an 81-79 victory over No. 19 Virginia on Mondaynight.
Iowa State (4-1) survived a career-high 40 points by Virginia’s Devin Smithand wasn’t assured of winning until the Cavaliers (6-1) missed three shots in awild flurry just before the buzzer.
Virginia took a 79-77 lead when Gary Forbes drove for a basket with 27seconds left, but Iowa State quickly got the ball to Stinson on the left wingand he made his fifth 3-pointer to put the Cyclones up 80-79.
Homan then batted away a pass into the lane, teammate Will Blalock scoopedup the ball and was fouled as he took off for the other end. Blalock made onefree throw, giving the Cavaliers a final chance.
Virginia coach Pete Gillen had called his last timeout with 8:10 left, sohis players had to improvise. Sean Singletary raced the ball up the floor,drove for a layup from the right side and saw the ball fall off the rim. TheCavaliers then missed two tip-ins and Iowa State had the upset, improving to21-1 at home under second-year coach Wayne Morgan.
Stinson finished 5-for-6 from 3-point range and 10-for-19 overall. He alsohad six assists, three steals and a block. Homan scored 14 points, whileBlalock and Robert Faulkner each had 10.
A key for Iowa State was keeping Smith under wraps down the stretch. Smithgot his last points on a putback with 6:08 remaining but was unstoppable beforethat.
He scored 20 of Virginia’s final 25 points in the first half, which endedwith the Cavaliers ahead 42-41, and matched his previous best of 30 when hemade two free throws with 16:33 to play. He finished 11-for-17 from the fieldand made 14 of 15 free throws.
Elton Brown added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who outscoredIowa State 23-12 at the line to partially offset their 18 turnovers.
Iowa State treated its fans to a series of crowd-pleasing plays whileopening a 70-59 lead, and Blalock was responsible for most of them.
He fed Homan for a layup in transition, drove into the lane and dished toReggie George for a two-handed dunk, bounced a pass behind his back to RahshonClark for a dunk, then got a dunk of his own on a lob from Stinson.
George’s free throw gave Iowa State its 11-point lead with 6:22 remaining,but Virginia stormed back. The Cavaliers tied it at 70 on J.R. Reynolds’ jumperand again at 77 when Forbes made one free throw with 1:13 to play.