Saturday’s game slipped away from the Cyclones, just like Big 12 games against Oklahoma and Texas Tech had.

The shots were falling, but defensive stops had been too hard to come by late in games.

On Saturday afternoon, Iowa State (14-10, 1-8) may have gotten the most painful defeat of those games, battling back and losing on a late shot to Kansas State 86-85, in a physical confrontation of a game at Hilton Coliseum.

“It’s very mental, because every possession counts,” said ISU senior guard Diante Garrett. “You don’t want to take a possession off and turn the ball over and take a wild shot. We’ve just got to see what we did wrong and get better.”

Kansas State’s (16-8, 4-5) Jacob Pullen nearly dribbled the ball away driving to the basket against Garrett with just seconds left, but collected the ball and hit a lay-up with 2.6 seconds left that gave the Wildcats a one-point lead.

“He put the ball right there in my hand, it hit my hand, then it hit my knee, then for some odd reason it got through to him,” Garrett said.

The Cyclones went on a 10-0 run in the last 10 minutes of the game to regain a lead they hadn’t held since four minutes into the game. Iowa State even held an 85-81 advantage inside of the final minute.

But just like other games in their current six game losing streak, they couldn’t get the stops when it mattered, and the more experienced Wildcats pulled it out.

“I don’t think it’s a confidence thing, it’s paying attention to small details, execution,” said ISU guard Scott Christopherson. “It’s not any one guy, it’s all 10 of us being a little more locked in at the end of the game. We just had a few break downs in the last minute and when you’re playing against Jacob Pullen he’s going to make you pay for it.”

Pullen finished with 21 points and the senior contributed 17 of them after halftime.

“He’s a heck of a player, he’s best in the clutch,” said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg. “That’s what makes a truly great player, when you can make plays down the stretch.”

The visiting Wildcats had 44 first half points and knocked down 14 three-pointers in the game, but got into foul trouble early, enabling the Cyclones to go 22-of-24 from the free throw line.

Kansas State finished with 21 fouls, but had a ludicrous 44-6 advantage in points from bench players.

“We knew they were coming in with some confidence, they were hitting shots,” Hoiberg said. “A couple of those guys hadn’t even taken a three-point shot all year, then they go out and make shots against us with a hand up.”

Hoiberg’s squad off-set Kansas State’s 11-man deep rotation with three high scorers. Garrett had the game high with 23 points, Christopherson trailed with 22, and senior forward Jamie Vanderbeken had 18 points.

The Cyclones shot 56 percent from the field and were 7-of-14 from three-point range.

The team has a week off before traveling to take on No. 2 Kansas at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12 in Lawrence.