In a game with two teams in a tight race for third place in the Big 12, Iowa State ran past Oklahoma Monday night.  

The Cyclones (16-6, 6-3 Big 12) went 8-of-16 from the 3-point line in the first half — after starting 0-of-13 against Baylor the previous game — in the 83-64 win against Oklahoma (14-7, 5-4) that stretched their Hilton Coliseum win streak to 20 games.

“I’m really proud of these guys for the way they approached [the game],” said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg. “You really have to be on your toes. And for us to put in the game plan in one and a half days and for the guys to go out and execute it the way that we did, I thought it was outstanding.”

Iowa State now sits solely in third place in the Big 12. The team sits behind Kansas and Kansas State and are a half-game in front of Oklahoma State. 

After taking nearly 23 minutes of playing time to make the first 3-pointer of the game against Baylor, it only took a mere 3:37 for Melvin Ejim to break the seal against Oklahoma. 

Then it was Georges Niang. Then Will Clyburn hit one. Then Lucious made another. And Tyrus McGee hit two in a row, followed by a Chris Babb 3-pointer to cap off a 23-12 run, all coming on 3-pointers, aside from a lone Percy Gibson baseline jumper. 

“That’s the way we can play,” said Chris Babb, who added four 3-pointers on the night. “When we keep that ball moving, we get stops, we get rebounds, we get out in transition and we get easy shots. I think we did a great job today making the extra pass, making sure everybody was getting shots.”

Fresh off his second-straight Big 12 Rookie of the Week award, Will Clyburn led Iowa State with 19 points on only 7-of-10 shooting, including a tomahawk dunk over Amath M’Baye in the second half. 

“It hurt,” Clyburn joked. “I’m getting old; my knees can’t take it.”

Hoiberg called this the most complete game he’s seen his team play. Contributions from each team member and each role player executing his role, were key to a nearly 20-point win. 

Babb chased Steven Pledger around the court, forcing him into only going 2-of-9 from the field. Babb also went 4-of-6 from the field while adding four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Korie Lucious continued his role running the show, dishing out eight assists, including an alley-oop and a no-look pass through three defenders to Ejim for a layup under the basket. Along with Lucious, Bubu Palo logged 18 minutes, scoring once and dishing out three assists.

The point guard duo combined for 11 assists and only four turnovers. 

“Korie, even though he only made two shots, he was the quarterback out there,” Hoiberg said. “I’ve been really pleased with Korie, I thought Bubu gave us great minutes as well.”

One week ago at Hoiberg’s weekly news conference, he said Percy Gibson and Anthony Booker need only to get their confidence back when they’re on the floor. Both big men played important minutes in the win against the Sooners combining for six blocks in the first half after Iowa State as a team only had 11 coming into the game. 

“We put it all together tonight,” Hoiberg said. “When you put it all together and you shoot the ball like we did tonight, we’re a pretty tough team to beat.”