Another almost.

Cyclone basketball fans had this sort of feeling when Iowa State took the then-ranked No. 12 Texas Longhorns to overtime in 2008, but that was midway through the Big 12 schedule. The edition of the game fans saw Wednesday night was a conference home opener, and this time, Longhorn coach Rick Barnes brought the top-ranked team to Hilton Coliseum for a showdown.

“Our older players brag about coming into this building, how they think this is one of the hardest places to play in the league,” Barnes said. “They’re a really good basketball team, and honestly, we thought it would be a one or two possession game coming in.”

The home crowd certainly made a difference, as even Iowa State’s coach Greg McDermott acknowledged the cardinal-clad bunch that was screaming from behind the baskets and up in the rafters aided them to one of their best efforts of the season. But with all the energy that the Cyclones brought to the floor, and the “upset alerts” that were ringing around the country after taking a 44—42 lead into halftime, Iowa State couldn’t hold on.

“At the end of the day, you lost. I felt we competed great. If we just carry this over, it can just help us out. Every game from now on is going to be like that. I think if we come out with that performance every day that we play and in practice we’ll be fine,” Cyclone forward Craig Brackins said. 

Hilton Coliseum had 12,066 fans listed in attendance, and throughout the first half and for stretches of the second half, it seemed as if every one of them was out of his or her seats. Dunks, fast break points, turnovers and a 6-for-8 3-point touch in the first half gave Cyclone fans belief.

Hilton Magic disappeared as quickly as it was granted, with a 16 point burst by the Longhorns in the first four minutes of the second half. Forward Marquis Gilstrap led the Cyclones with 20 points, and fought through cramps for much of the second half and seemed despondent after the game about the team’s effort.

“I thought we played the first half real well, we came out the first couple minutes of the second half and just had a let down, and that really hurt us,” Gilstrap said.

In that second half stretch, the Cyclones’ shooting went cold, going just 1-for-10 from three point land, allowing Texas 10 offensive rebounds and even a great effort couldn’t save the team from the snow.

“That 10—0 run, and a couple turnovers that led to easy baskets, you don’t have that kind of margin of error with a team as talented as Texas. We put ourselves in position that we had opportunities to win the game, and we didn’t quit after that … but they made big play after big play,” McDermott said.

The freshman Bradley, a McDonald’s All-American and highly prized recruit for Barnes and his staff didn’t disappoint in what may be his only trip to Ames as a college player. Bradley went 10-for-14 from the floor, for 24 points, six rebounds and he added six assists. He hit all four treys that he took, and didn’t turn the ball over once. There’s no almost in zero, the number on Bradley’s jersey and the amount of mistakes he made in his first Big 12 road game.

“This is my first look in person at Avery Bradley but I’m telling you, there’s not a better guard in the league then that cat. He’s 22-of-28 in his first two Big 12 games. He’s a very talented young man, and he was the difference in the game,” McDermott said.

Hilton Coliseum and the Cyclone faithful gave the number one team in the country their best shot, and even what Brackins believed to be the best overall team effort of the year.

Wednesday night wasn’t the time for No. 1 to slip up, and even though they might, Longhorn forward Damion James, who proved his mettle with a 23 point and 14 rebound game said that the Horns have to be prepared for all comers.

“To be honest, we felt like every game is a big ole’ target on our back, because we’re Texas. I guess with the No. 1 spot, it makes it that much bigger. We like the challenge, and we’ve got a great team,” James said.

The young Bradley shared his fresh wisdom as well, something that won’t warm Cyclone fans up like a win or a warm blanket, but can give them solace that they didn’t lose an “almost” to just any ball club.

“No. 1 doesn’t mean anything to us, we’re gonna go out and play hard no matter what,” Bradley said.

The Cyclones will look to capture the latter part of Bradley’s words with the remaining 15 games of the Big 12 schedule. Iowa State gets the Nebraska Cornhuskers on the road Saturday night, and then fans and coaches alike will find out if “almost” can become reality for the rest of the year.