KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For most programs, when a player like DeAndre Kane fouls out, the wheels tend to fall off. This was not the case for the ISU basketball team.

With 3:55 remaining in the second half, Kane picked up his fifth foul and was sent to the bench, which left Georges Niang left to step in and take the reigns.

Niang — with the help of his teammate and roommate Naz Long — scored or assisted on five of the last six possessions to help close the book on the third bout between No. 16 Iowa State and Kansas State, winning 91-85.

“Coach talks about it every day,” Niang said. “’How are you going to act when adversity hits you?’ I thought we acted in a great way when adversity hit us today when DeAndre went down with that foul or when he got a foul diving for that loose ball.

“I thought our team handled it great. We didn’t put our head down and we just kept fighting.”

PHOTO: Check out the biggest moments from March 13’s Cyclone victory against the Wildcats 

Kane fouled out with the score tied at 76 and 3:55 left in the game. From there, it was Niang running the point and initiating the offense, drawing comparisons from Long to a certain 6-foot-8-inch point guard two years ago: Royce White.

First, Niang scored, spinning in the post. Then he found Naz Long — who had struggled for parts of the game defensively — at the top of the key for another 3-pointer to make it 81-78.

After K-State’s Shane Southwell answered with a two-point bucket, Niang found Melvin Ejim cutting to the basket for a layup. On the next possession, Niang extended it to a five-point lead — 87-85 — with a 2-pointer followed by a free throw.

After a Southwell turnover on the next possession, Long hit a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach.

For the second consecutive game when facing adversity, Iowa State got crucial buckets from roommates to finish the game, with Long hitting the game-tying shot against Oklahoma State on Saturday and now Niang down the stretch against Kansas State.

“Thankfully, we’ve been in that position before,” Long said. “Guys like myself and Monte [Morris] and anybody else, we know we’ve got to pick it up because DeAndre is one of the best players on our team. He said, ‘Look, we’re going to be alright.’

“So when he went out, we were like, ‘Alright, let’s get the win.’”

Ejim — who scored two points after Kane fouled out — led all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-19 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. Joining him with a double-double of his own was Dustin Hogue, who Kane called the player of the game. Hogue finished with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds.

“Dustin was incredible,” Kane said. “He was player of the game in my eyes. All of the guys stepped up, and it was a team effort in my eyes.”

The difference in this game, according to Hoiberg, was just getting stops down the stretch.

“We got the stops down the stretch that we desperately needed,” Hoiberg said. “Again, we made the plays the first time down the stretch we played. They made them the second time, and today, we were fortunate enough to do it to them in a very important game.”

With the win, Iowa State awaits Kansas in the semifinals. The two teams will play at 6:00 p.m. March 14 on either the Big 12 Network or ESPNU.