Valentine’s Day turned out to be unkind to the ISU (13-12, 2-8) men’s basketball team, losing 86-67 to Oklahoma State (15-9, 4-6) in another conference road defeat.

The Cyclones went into halftime down 36-34 after holding an early lead, but a 12-0 run by the Cowboys to start the second half opened up the game, and Iowa State could not come within seven points for the rest of the game. The guard play by Oklahoma State was too much to overcome for the Cyclones, who were led by Craig Brackins’ 27 points and 9 rebounds.

The game went as planned with both teams combining for 54 attempts from 3-point range, but the Cowboys bested the Cyclones 11-to-8 in 3-pointers made, and a 37-to-27 Oklahoma State advantage in rebounding helped them keep a comeback out of reach.

Oklahoma State’s four-guard system provided problems for the Cyclones all game, with James Anderson and Terrel Harris leading the Cowboys with 27 and 21 points respectively. The guards accounted for 74 of the team’s 86 points, and the switch to a zone defense periodically by ISU coach Greg McDermott proved unsuccessful.

Iowa State went into the game ranked second in the Big 12 for fewest turnovers per game, but Oklahoma State capitalized on an uncharacteristically careless performance by the Cyclones to the tune of 24 points of turnovers.

Cyclone guard Lucca Staiger added 14 points to the total, including four 3-pointers in 10 attempts. Fellow guard Diante Garrett came down from his recent streak in the game, struggling against four-year starter Byron Eaton, scoring 12 points but committing five turnovers.

The loss makes Iowa State’s conference road losing streak 13 games long, and extends the Cyclones’ losing streak in Stillwater to 15.