AMES, Iowa (AP) — For Iowa State, it felt like yet another inexplicable loss to Kansas State might be inevitable.

Then a fumble flipped in the air and fell right into Mike Rose’s hands, and the Cyclones’ bad luck against the Wildcats seemed to wash away.

David Montgomery ran for three touchdowns, including the winner with 4:34 to go, and 25th-ranked Iowa State rallied from 17 down in the fourth quarter to stun Kansas State 42-38 and snap a 10-game skid against the Wildcats on Saturday night.

Montgomery had 149 yards rushing for the Cyclones (7-4, 6-3 Big 12), who clinched their best-ever finish in the Big 12.
Down 38-21, Iowa State scored twice in just 1:44 early in the fourth — on Brock Purdy’s short TD pass and a 21-yard fumble return by Rose after Willie Harvey forced it — to pull to 38-35.
The made a stop, and Montgomery’s 18-yard touchdown run gave Iowa State an improbable lead.

“This team has never disappointed me,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. “We’re not flashy. We’re not pretty. But you better not count us out.”

Kansas State’s (5-7, 3-6) fate was sealed when a long pass to Dalton Schoen deep in Iowa State territory glanced off his fingertips with 1:20 left.

The Wildcats took control by going 92 yards on eight plays after picking off Purdy, opening up a 31-21 lead on Skylar Thompson’s 9-yard TD pass to Chabastin Taylor late in the third. K-State’s Kevion McGee then intercepted Purdy again, and Isaiah Zuber’s second TD grab of the game made it 38-21 early in the fourth.

Purdy redeemed himself down the stretch though, finishing with 337 yards passing and two touchdowns in what Campbell said was his best game yet.

Thompson threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score, and Alex Barnes rushed for 184 yards and a TD for the Wildcats. Barnes rushed for at least 100 yards in his last four games, the longest such streak for a Wildcat since Darren Sproles had a five-game streak in 2003.

“I’ve never lost a ballgame that way. I’ll have to dissect it,” Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said. “I can’t tell you what my feelings are right now.”

THE TAKEAWAY
Iowa State: The Cyclones revival since the start of last season had been sparked by their defense. But the cracks that began to show in a win over Baylor and a loss at Texas developed into sink holes against the Wildcats. Iowa State’s offense, bailed out so often by their teammates on the other side of the ball, finally returned the favor — and the defense showed up when it mattered.
K-State: If this proves to be Bill Snyder’s final game, what a brutal way to go out. All the Wildcats had to do was protect a 17-point lead with 12 minutes to go bowling, but they couldn’t do it.

UP NEXT
Iowa State hosts Drake of the FCS in a makeup for its canceled opener.
Kansas State’s season is complete.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Marcus Weymiller rushed for 128 yards, Trevor Allen ran for 112 and Austin Errthum kicked three field goals as Northern Iowa edged mistake-prone Lamar 16-13 in a first-round FCS playoff game on Saturday.

The Panthers (7-5), making their 20th appearance in the FCS playoffs, will travel to play No. 6 seed UC Davis next Saturday.

Errthum kicked field goals in the first, second and fourth quarters, the final one a 35-yarder with 13:09 left for the final three-point margin.

Northern Iowa’s Eli Dunne threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Rima to tie the game at 13 with two minutes left in the first half.

Lamar scored on a 73-yard pass play from Darrel Colbert to Kirkland Banks on the second play of the game but a botched conversion attempt left the score 6-0. Colbert connected with Case Robison on a 25-yard score later in the first quarter for a 13-3 lead.

But the Cardinals (7-5), making their first FCS playoff appearance, lost two fumbles in the red zone and had two field-goal attempts go wide right, all in the second half. Elvin Martinez’s second miss, a 36-yarder, came with 2:50 left in the game and the Panthers were able to run all but 15 seconds off the clock.

Colbert was 14-of-25 passing for 268 yards, two TDs and an interception. Dunn was 8 of 21 for 107 yards, a TD and a pick.
Lamar outgained Northern Iowa 417-346.

BIMINI, Bahamas (AP) — Nausia Woolfolk scored 15 of her career-high 25 points in the second half to help Florida State beat No. 12 Iowa 71-67 on Saturday night in the championship game of the Junkanoo Jam.

Kiah Gillespie had 13 points and nine rebounds, Valencia Myers added 10 and nine and Nicki Ekhomu also scored 10 for Florida State.

Tania Davis was fouled as she hit a 3-pointer that trimmed Iowa’s deficit to 69-67 with 5.7 seconds left but she missed the free throw. Myers grabbed the rebound, was fouled and hit both free throws to cap the scoring.

Davis led the Hawkeyes (4-1) with 22 points, including 17 in the second half, and six assists. Megan Gustafson had 16 points, on 8-of-8 shooting, and eight rebounds and Hannah Stewart added 14 points and nine rebounds.

Alexis Sevillian scored four points as the Hawkeyes jumped to an 8-0 lead and Makenzie Meyer’s layup gave them an 18-10 lead early in the second quarter. Woolfolk answered with a 3-pointer and then made two free throws as FSU scored the first nine points during a 20-6 run that gave the Seminoles the lead for good when Sayawni Lassiter hit a 3-pointer with 3:51 left that made it 30-24 in the first half. Iowa committed seven of its 19 turnovers in the second quarter.

Woolfolk made 8 of 11 from the free-throw line, where Florida State (6-1) outscored Iowa 14-3. The Hawkeyes, who came in averaging 20.5 free-throw attempts per game, shot just four free throws Saturday.

w/ Chris Parks

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Health problems did not hamper Notre Dame’s championship hopes at the Vancouver Showcase on Friday night. Arike Ogunbowale scored 30 points and Jackie Young added 25 to help No. 1 Notre Dame beat Drake 82-64 in semifinal action at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

The Irish were playing without Jessica Shepard, who twisted her ankle against Gonzaga on Thursday and is listed as day-to-day, and still were missing Marina Mabrey, who has been sidelined with a quadriceps injury all season.

The defending champion Fighting Irish (5-0) struggled to score early. But after the first quarter was tied 17-17, Notre Dame eventually managed to dominate. The Irish outscored the Bulldogs 52-44 in the paint. Sara Rhine led the Bulldogs (5-1) with 18 points while Sammie Bachrodt netted 11 and Maddy Dean contributed 10. The surging Bulldogs suffered their first loss of the season.

The Bulldogs are aiming for a third-straight NCAA tournament appearance after making back-to-back appearances for the first time since 2001 and 2002. The Bulldogs will tip off in today’s (Saturday’s). game to decide third place against South Carolina.

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — B.J. Sith scored six of his game-high 25 points from the free throw line in the closing seconds as Old Dominion avenged a loss earlier this week to Northern Iowa, 72-65 on Friday night. The game was the second meeting between the teams in the last five days. Northern Iowa beat Old Dominion Monday in the final game of the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands, 54-53.

This time the Monarchs (3-3) never surrendered the lead in the second half. UNI cut the lead to three, 61-58 on a layup by Wyatt Lohaus with 3:09 left. Ahmad Carver hit a 3-pointer and Sith hit six free throws in the final :18 to put the game away.

Sith hit 8 of 13 from the field, including 2 of 5 from beyond the arc, and was 7-for-7 from the line. Carver added 19 points and dished six assists. A.J. Green led the Panthers (3-3) with 18 points.

BIMINI, Bahamas (AP) — Megan Gustafson had 28 points and 16 rebounds, and No. 12 Iowa rallied from a 24-point deficit and beat No. 25 West Virginia 84-81 on Friday in the Junkanoo Jam to remain undefeated. The win marks the biggest comeback for Iowa (5-0) under coach Lisa Bluder. Iowa plays Florida State in the title game while the Mountaineers (3-1) face Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.

Gustafson was 12 of 17 from the field. Makenzie Meyer made four 3-pointers and finished with 20 points for Iowa. Tania Davis scored 15 points, including a career-high 13 free throws. Alexis Sevillian chipped in with 13 points.

Kysre Gondrezick scored 22 points for West Virginia. Naomi Davenport added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Madisen Smith had 13 points and Tynice Martin and Kari Niblack added 11 points apiece.
Gustafson converted a 3-point play to give Iowa its first lead of the second half, 78-77, with 49.4 seconds to play.

Gustafson added another bucket and Davis made two free throws to make it a five-point lead with 38.7 seconds left. Gondrezick hit a 3-pointer with 11.8 seconds remaining.
West Virginia built a 48-29 halftime lead but Iowa outscored the Mountaineers 29-12 in the fourth.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Miguel Recinos drilled a 41-yard field goal through a driving rain as time expired and Iowa beat Nebraska 31-28 on Friday despite blowing a 15-point lead. Mekhi Sargent ran for a career-high 173 yards and scored twice for the Hawkeyes (8-4, 5-4 Big Ten), who have won four straight over the Cornhuskers for the first time.

The Hawkeyes nearly blew this one big time though. A curious decision by Iowa to fake a field goal at Nebraska’s 3-yard line failed, and it led to a 98-yard scoring drive from the Huskers to make it 28-20 with 13:57 to go. Martinez then ran it from 3 yards out with 3:22 left and found Kade Warner in the back of the end zone to tie it up.

But star tight end T.J. Hockenson came through for Iowa with a 10-yard catch on a fourth-and-8 with 42 seconds to go — and Recinos put it through the uprights after missing his previous attempt.
Sargent scored late in the second quarter on a 15-yard run and early in the third on a 5-yard pass from Nate Stanley to help the Hawkeyes jump ahead 28-13. But the Huskers and Adrian Martinez, their brilliant freshman quarterback, showed resilience in nearly pulling off the stunner.

Martinez threw for 260 yards and two TDs to lead Nebraska (4-8, 3-6), which went 0-5 on the road in 2018. The Huskers played without injured star wide receiver J.D. Spielman for the second week in a row.

After a three-game losing streak robbed them of a shot at the Big Ten title, the Hawkeyes finished on a high note and will now await their bowl fate. It wouldn’t be surprising to see them end up in either the Holiday or the Citrus Bowl.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) — A Dubuque man will be honored as a hero during the Iowa-Nebraska football game today (Friday). A University of Dubuque assistant women’s basketball coach Justin Smith was named to represent our state at the Heroes Game. He is credited with quick action to pull over the team bus after the bus driver had a medical issue and passed out while driving. Smith pulled the driver out of the seat and was able to stop the bus after hitting the guardrail. Smith will be honored during halftime of the game at Kinnick Stadium. Smith will be joined on the field by Brian Thurston of Omaha, who will be recognized as Nebraska’s 2018 “citizen hero.”

Listen for the pre-game show at 9-a.m. on KJAN, with the kick-off at 11.