Onalaska’s Thomas has career night for Iowa State

Junior nails 6-of-9
3-pointers in scoring 19

AMES, Iowa – It was a first half to forget for the Iowa State University men’s basketball team.

One to forget for everyone on the Cyclones, except Onalaska, Wis., native Matt Thomas.

Iowa State found itself down as many as 20 points in the first half against Iowa on Thursday night at the Hilton Coliseum.

But, if there was someone you could point to that kept ISU in the game in the first half, it was the Onalakska High School graduate. Thomas nailed 4 of 5 from beyond the arc, scoring 12 of his 19 in the first half, and the Cyclones made a second-half run to pull off an 83-82 win.

Thomas finished 6-for-9 from beyond the arc to go with four rebounds and a pair of steals.

Iowa got out to a huge lead thanks to senior Jarrod Uthoff’s 30 first-half points.

In the second half, however, Uthoff scored just two, as ISU made a comeback.

It did take awhile to cut that 20-point deficit, which was 14 at halftime.

Thomas nailed the last of his career-high six 3-pointers with 59 seconds remaining to pull Iowa State within 82-79. Iowa ended up turning the ball over on its next two possessions, while ISU answered with back-to-back scoring possessions to take the lead.

The Hawkeyes had a chance for the win, but Uthoff’s shot rattled off and Thomas pulled down the rebounds with 2 seconds remaining and then the buzzer sounded.

The 19 points were a career high for Thomas, who has now scored in double figures at Iowa State 19 times. This was the fifth time in his now three-year career with at least three 3-pointers in a game.

The Matt Thomas line

• Scored a career-high 19 points.
• Made a career-high six three-pointers.
• 19th career game in double figures.
• Fifth career game with at least three three-pointers.