Royce White warned against it Monday in a news conference.

Letting Kansas State come into Hilton Coliseum and “out-tough you,” as he put it, would only end in defeat. For 30 minutes of basketball, it looked like the Wildcats (15-6, 4-5 Big 12) had done just that.

But the ISU men’s basketball team rose to the occasion when it needed to, coming back from down 14 with 14:27 left and pulling out the 72-70 win on a game-winner from White with 1.8 seconds left. As he got the ball, White was hoping for anything but a trip to the line.

“I was praying they didn’t foul me,” White said. “I’m telling you, I was praying. Coach [Fred Hoiberg] told me, ‘If they foul you, go knock them down.'”

White led the Cyclones (16-6, 6-3) with 22 points and eight rebounds, but no points were bigger than the two in the final seconds.

The sophomore was the catalyst for Iowa State throughout the game and his three dunks reawakened the Hilton crowd when Kansas State had all but put it to bed.

“He’s awesome. I root for that kid every day,” said KSU coach Frank Martin. “Obviously, he’s doing an unbelievable job leading this team and he’s a nightmare of a matchup.”

A 19-7 run from the 14:27 mark to the 7:55 mark got the Cyclones back in a game that, early in the second half, looked like it was headed toward another Wildcat road win.

Guard Chris Allen scored seven of his 15 points during the run that brought the game’s deficit back to two points. That, coupled with Iowa State outrebounding Kansas State 18-13 in the second half, erased bad body language and frustration on the bench.

Martin heaped high praise upon the Cyclones, using one word to describe what led to the 14-point comeback.

“Maturity,” Martin said. “They’ve got guys who’ve been around. They’ve got guys that understand. They don’t panic, they keep playing, they make the right plays. They’re a fun team to watch.”

In the early stages of the season, Hoiberg spoke at length about his team coming to the huddle during times of adversity with their heads down and without a player stepping up to get his team back in the game.

On Tuesday night, the coach saw his team pick itself back up and win a game that is a potential resume-builder for the NCAA tournament.

“The last couple games I have [seen the team mature],” Hoiberg said. “Our poise down the stretch has been very good. They’re growing, they’re coming together. You can see it when they’re on the floor in crunch time, you make the plays we made, you can tell the trust is there.”

Along with the maturation of the team, the win may have shown the Cyclones how tough they are.

White said it before the game and he said it after: Beating Kansas State would — and did — come down to toughness.

“I think it speaks volumes to the fact that we kind of got punched in the mouth first,” White said. “And we’re able to come back and win a fight. You’ve got to be mentally tough to win a game against a team like that that plays so tough.

“It speaks to the maturity and where we’ve come.”