Without fail, Iowa State brings its best effort to bear for tournaments in Hawaii.
The No. 14 Cyclones improved to 9-0 in their last three events in the Aloha State, taking the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic title with a 70-66 comeback win over Boise State on Christmas Day at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Iowa State (11-0), one of nine unbeaten teams in the country, made up a seven-point halftime deficit and built on the best season start in program history.
"It was a huge win," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "Most teams play their multi-team event over Thanksgiving, and ours was late, so we were behind on games. So we knew how important these three were for us. … Take care of business and give us some momentum heading into (Big 12) conference play."
The Cyclones, who entered the tournament as the nation’s top scoring and assisting team, did nearly all of their damage by the hands of four starters. Tournament MVP DeAndre Kane scored 23 points and hit several big shots late — none bigger than a 3-pointer for a 65-60 lead with 1:46 remaining. Georges Niang added 16, Melvin Ejim had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Dustin Hogue had 13 points and nine boards.
They combined for all but three of Iowa State’s points.
"Oh man, we’re like a brotherhood, man," Kane said. "We hang together every day and all day. One guy got it rolling. We know we’re going to that guy no matter what. If Coach calls a play, we might switch and say we’re going to go this guy right here because he scored four straight buckets."
Boise State nearly rallied late. Jeff Elorriaga was fouled on a 3 and hit all three free throws with 1:25 left to get the Broncos (10-3) within 65-63.
Kane missed on a take at the other end and Boise called timeout with 30.7 seconds to go. Coming out of the timeout, guard Derrick Marks (23 points) missed on an isolation jumper from the left elbow and Anthony Drmic (16 points) fouled out taking the foul. The title was essentially decided.
Iowa State also won the 2005 Rainbow Classic and the 2000 Yahoo! Sports Classic in Laie. The Cyclones’ only blemish here in the 21st century: a 60-59 defeat in a stand-alone game against Hawaii in 2008.
Now the Cyclones will see if they can interrupt Kansas’ decade-long stranglehold on the Big 12.
Boise State, whose football team lost in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve, returns home to prepare for Mountain West Conference play. Its returning core of five starters from last March’s NCAA Tournament team nearly pulled a fast one on the ‘Clones.
"This could have been icing on the cake," Drmic said, "but you know we’ve got to go back and focus on conference play, ’cause our goal from the beginning of the season was to win the Mountain West."
