Of all the plays that decided one of the best regular-season games in college basketball this season — and there were dozens and dozens of them in the instant classic — a non-scoring play by BYU center Keba Keita stands out.
It will be remembered in BYU lore forever, and enabled the No. 23 Cougars to upset No. 10 Iowa State 88-85 in double overtime in front of 14,267 at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa, on Tuesday night.
Channeling his inner Tyler Allgeier — BYU and Arizona State football fans will get that reference — Keita chased down Iowa State’s Nate Heise and blocked the guard’s would-be dunk at the rim.
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It was only one play at the time, but it loomed large in a game that lasted 50 minutes, and was emblematic of the effort displayed by both nationally ranked Big 12 clubs on ESPN2.
“Just toughness, honestly,” is how BYU coach Kevin Young described the win to the BYU Sports Network. “That’s the biggest thing that comes to mind. You know, composure. It just felt like we were giving it to them after that big lead.”
Yes, there was that big lead.
The Cougars went up 54-33 with a little more than 13 minutes remaining when Dallin Hall dunked a fast break lob from Trey Stewart, forcing the homestanding Cyclones to get a timeout as a shell-shocked crowd looked on in disbelief.
Iowa State (22-8, 12-7) then went on a 28-9 run to get back in it, as BYU reverted to giving the ball away on almost every possession, much like the Cougars did in the game’s first six minutes when they failed to score.
BYU finished with a whopping 29 turnovers — and still won.
ESPN noted that no team has defeated a ranked team while committing 29 turnovers in the last 20 years, but somehow, the Cougars (22-8, 13-6) pulled it off, even as seemingly every whistle in the last five minutes of regulation and the first overtime period went against them.
“The ratcheted that pressure up, and our guys were having a hard time with it,” Young said, “but nobody ever lost confidence. No one ever got too rattled.
“We just kept making play after play. We had to rely on our defense, but they made huge plays, too, so just an incredible game. So much respect for Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger and his team and how hard he gets those guys to play. Just the hand strength and quickness of their guys, man, was something else, but our guys just didn’t relent.”
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Most notably Keita, who tied a career-high with 15 rebounds while adding seven points and three huge blocks while battling foul trouble.
Nine of those rebounds came on the offensive end, and the Cougars out rebounded the home team by a whopping margin of 52-24.
“It was a group effort, from the coaches, the players, everybody, the strength coach, the nutritionists,” said defensive specialist Mawot Mag, who chipped in 10 points.
“We just came in with the mentality to do whatever it takes to win. I feel like we just followed the game plan, and once we faced adversity, we didn’t fold. We just embraced it, and we just kept pushing through.”
But just barely.
Iowa State got a huge 3-pointer from Milan Momcilovic with 45 seconds remaining in regulation that tied the score. After Richie Saunders and Joshua Jefferson exchanged free throws, the game went to overtime tied at 68-68.
Saunders, the two-time reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, finished with a game-high 23 points and was 13 of 13 from the free-throw line while playing 47 minutes.
Both teams shot 31 free throws; BYU made 25 and Iowa State made 27, including two by Curtis Jones in the first overtime that gave ISU a 77-75 lead.
But BYU refused to die. Hall hit a pair of free throws and Egor Demin made a driving layup with 21.9 seconds left to force the second overtime.
Hall, looking exhausted, had a season-high 22 points and gave BYU a lead in the second overtime it would not relinquish with a fastbreak layup after ISU’s 11th and final turnover.
With BYU leading 87-85, Iowa State had possession with 24 seconds remaining, but BYU’s Mag-led defense was tremendous, and all the Cyclones could get was a desperation heave by Momcilovic that didn’t come close to going in with 4.3 seconds left, and the party in Provo began.
The Cyclones shot 39% from the floor and 29% from the 3-point line, while BYU was 44% and 34% in those categories.
During the timeout before ISU’s last possession, “Coach challenged us, said just like Arizona, we are going to get the stop here and we will go home,” Mag said.
“He challenged us and looked all of us in the eyes and said toughness is everything, so we came out and coach had a plan, switch one through five, and show toughness and get the stop. Just get the job done.”
Mission accomplished.
“We are really imposing our will on teams right now,” said Young, whose team has won seven straight, including wins over nationally ranked Kansas, Arizona and Iowa State, the latter two on the road.
BYU led by as many as 11 in first half after trailing by nine early, and had a 33-24 lead at the break; Last year in Ames, BYU led 38-27 at halftime but lost by five after being held scoreless the last 4:24 of the game.
Not so this time around, as the Cougars got their first-ever win at Hilton Coliseum, widely considered the toughest or second-toughest place to play in the Big 12.
“It was fun, man,” said Young. “An all-time type of game.”
It has arguably been the best seven-game stretch in BYU basketball history, a stretch that included BYU going 5-0 in Quad 1 games.
The victory clinched at least a No. 4 seed (and double bye) in the Big 12 tournament for the Cougars, who will face rival Utah in a regular-season finale on Saturday in Provo.
