University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Fall In Close Battle With Iowa State, 68-63
11/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Spencer Tollackson scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds but it wasn't enough as Iowa State escaped Williams Arena with a 68-63 victory this evening at Williams Arena. Mike Taylor hit six three-pointers and scored a game-high 33 points to lead the Cyclones (5-0) to the win. Minnesota fell to 2-1 with the loss.
Tollackson set new career-highs for points and rebounds and Lawrence McKenzie added 15 points for the Gophers. Dan Coleman grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds as well.
Iowa State overcame a 10-point second half deficit to pull out the win in the first regular season meeting between the border rivals since 1992. Leading 28-25 at the half, the Gophers score the first seven points of the second half. Tollackson scored the final six points of the run on two free throws, a layup and a dunk. Rahshon Clark ended the run with a three-pointer from the left wing but Brandon Smith hit a 15-foot jumper to push the Gopher lead back to nine at 37-28. A stretch of seven Taylor points in under two minutes pulled the Cyclones within four points at 42-38 with 13:04 on the clock but Minnesota managed to push the lead back to eight on a Coleman jumper with 10:54 left to make the score 48-40.
The Cyclones went on a 13-5 run to tie the game with 7:08 left in the game with back-to-back treys by Taylor. Minnesota scored the next five on a three-pointer by McKenzie and a right baseline jumper by Limar Wilson to lead 58-53 with 4:01 left. Then the Cyclones took the game over. Taylor made an acrobatic layup and then dished to Jessan Gray for a three-pointer on the next possession to tie the game at 58-58 with 2:49 remaining. The Gophers couldn't convert on the other end and Taylor hit another three to put Iowa State ahead for good. Gray made a layup off another Taylor feed to put ISU up five and then made five free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
Iowa State jumped out to an early 19-12 lead halfway through the first half. The Gophers came back and took the lead at 24-23 on a Coleman tip-in. A dunk and two free throws by Tollackson put the Gophers a 28-23 edge with 1:17 remaining in the half. Taylor made a leaning jumper as time expired at the end of the half to make the score 28-25 Minnesota at halftime. The Taylor basket ended a six-minute scoreless stretch for the Cyclones.
The Gophers shot 39 percent for the night on 23-of-59 from the floor while Iowa State made 45 percent of their shots on 26-of-58. The teams were even on the glass with 37 rebounds apiece. The Gophers now lead the all-time series 17-11.
