The streak came to an end in the quarterfinals against Oklahoma on Thursday.
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The first-round game in Kentucky amounts to a bus ride for the Boilermakers with two Purdue players – senior guard April Wilson and freshman post player Nora Kiesler – hailing from Bluegrass State.
Oklahoma Sooners guard Buddy Hield (24) drives against Dayton Flyers guard Kyle Davis (3) during the second half in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Nationwide Arena. Niang brought Iowa State back by scoring 14 consecutive points during one stretch.
Hield, who was held to a season-low six points, almost shot himself into WVU lifetime hatred. Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year Jaysean Paige was held scoreless until the second half, but finished with 10 points. “It’s going to be heartbreaking that I won’t be playing any more college games (after the tournament), but you just go out there and compete and have fun, and have no regrets when you leave the court”.
The Sooners (25-6) play ninth-ranked and second-seeded West Virginia in Friday’s semifinals. He attempts 8.6 3-pointers per game, fourth in the nation, yet ranks 11th nationally among players with at least 1.5 makes per game at 46.4 percent.
“Being in the Big-12 for four years and going out like this obviously stings”, said Niang.
“I thought it was good so I went and celebrated”, Hield said. He drained seven 3-pointers in the second half in a comeback win at LSU and got the best of a showdown with projected No. 1 overall National Basketball Association draft pick Ben Simmons.
“It means a lot (to play in Oklahoma City) being from here”, Spangler said. However, Wooden Award candidate Buddy Hield was on his game and hit four three-pointers. The forward led the Cyclones with 31 points, including 25 in the second half. The Cyclones cut it to 72-66 and got a turnover but couldn’t convert it into points. Devin Williams contributed 9 points and had 11 rebounds. The Musketeers have been striving to gain some respect all season, and even though they have owned a top-5 ranking for a while now, there still has been the feeling the team has only thrived because it plays in a relatively weak conference. Iowa State was just 4-of-12 through nine minutes in the second half and was down as many as 14 before Niang gave the ISU offense the spark it desperately needed.
The City of Oklahoma City said each Oklahoma City Thunder home basketball game generates an economic impact of over $1.3 million.
The Mountaineers, who are 13-9 all-time in championship games of conference tournaments, will be playing in their first league title game since winning the 2010 Big East tournament. The Sooners have not won the tournament since winning three straight from 2001-03.
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The victor of Oklahoma-CSUB plays the victor of Oregon State and Virginia Commonwealth in the round of 32 on Sunday.
