AMES, Iowa—It’s no secret that as Iowa State’s Craig Brackins goes, so go the Cyclones.
After struggling in a pair of close losses last week, Brackins carried his team to a victory it desperately needed Wednesday night.
Brackins broke out of a late-season slump with 21 points, including 14 in the second half, and added 10 rebounds as Iowa State beat Nebraska 78-74 to snap a six-game losing streak.
Brackins, who had shot an unsightly 18-for-68 over his last four games, picked up his 29th career double-double by taking over the game late in the second half.
Brackins broke a 65-65 tie with a pair of dunks, then hit two free throws to give Iowa State a 71-66 lead with 1:56 left.
Lance Jeter hit a 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left to pull the Cornhuskers within 76-74, but Marquis Gilstrap iced the win with two free throws.
“Some guys hide when they struggle, and some attack it,” Iowa State coach Greg McDermott said of Brackins. “Right now, that’s what he’s doing.”
Scott Christopherson added 17 for the Cyclones (14-14, 3-10 Big 12), who moved back to .500 while sweeping a Big 12 opponent for the first time in three years.
Iowa State survived a career game from Nebraska freshman Christian Standhardinger. He scored 25 points, by far the most of his young career, but Nebraska (13-15, 1-12) went 3 1/2 minutes without a field goal down the stretch and lost its seventh straight game.
“He tries so hard that sometimes it hurts him,” Nebraska coach Doc Sadler said of Standhardinger, who made his first start. “I’ve been wanting to play him more because he’s a guy that can score baskets for you. And as long as he’s not getting in foul trouble, he’s going to get these kinds of minutes.”
For a while, it looked as though the Huskers might finally grab the conference road win that has eluded them all season.
Nebraska, behind Standhardinger’s hot hand, led by 10 early in the second half before the Cyclones finally got rolling. Justin Hamilton followed a three-point play from Chris Colvin with two free throws to put Iowa State ahead 51-49 with 11:02 left.
Nebraska quickly jumped back ahead 59-53, but Iowa State answered by scoring the next 10 points. Brackins highlighted that stretch by alertly following his own missed 3-pointer and hitting a floater to make it 63-59 with 5:15 left.
Brackins then threw down a pair of rim-shaking dunks—the second an alley-oop off a Diante Garrett feed—to give the Cyclones a 69-65 lead with 3:04 left.
Brackins shot 7 of 12 from the field.
“Craig is a great player, and he rose to the occasion and made some spectacular plays,” Christopherson said.
Jeter had 21 points for Nebraska, including a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the first-half buzzer that gave the Huskers a 41-34 lead.
It was just the third halftime lead on the road in 11 tries for Nebraska, which shot 50 percent in the opening half and buried seven 3-pointers.
Standhardinger had matched his career high by halftime with 14 points—after scoring just 12 points total in his last four games.
But the Huskers couldn’t keep their hot streak from beyond the arc going in the second half, shooting just 2 of 7 from 3-point range.
Since neither team had won a game in February, Iowa State and Nebraska had to be glad to see each other. Given their recent performances, though, it felt like a must-win matchup for both of them.
The Huskers had played five straight games against ranked teams—including two against No. 6 Kansas State and one at top-ranked Kansas—only to come home and get crushed by Missouri 74-59.
Iowa State had been competitive in each of its last five games, losing at home last week to Oklahoma State and No. 22 Texas A&M by a total of nine points. But the Cyclones’ season hasn’t been the same since they beat Nebraska 56-53 in Lincoln on Jan. 16.
Iowa State went on a 1-9 skid after that win—its only road victory in conference play—leaving a season that once harbored hopes of the postseason in tatters.
But after letting Nebraska control the game early, the Cyclones turned it on behind Brackins, who lead them to a confidence-boosting victory.
“I knew my teammates needed a spark, so I just tried to do what I can,” Brackins said.
