With 100 years of history filling Hilton Coliseum, the ISU men’s basketball team refused to fall in front of the legends of ISU basketball.

After scoring 11 first-half points, the fewest ever by a Big 12 team in a half, the Cyclones (14-12, 4-7 Big 12) regrouped and opened the second with a 25-5 run.

Once they picked up that lead, they never let go of it as they dropped the Nebraska Cornhuskers 60-52 in front of 14,376 rowdy supporters who came to witness the gathering of dozens of former ISU players from the past seven decades.

“We’ve all heard of Hilton Magic,” coach Greg McDermott told the crowd after the game. “What took place in that locker room at halftime was magical, I’ll tell you that.”

After being hounded into 15 first-half turnovers by the Cornhuskers’ pestering four-guard lineup (14-9, 3-7), McDermott went to a small lineup in the second half, playing senior Rahshon Clark, who finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds, at the power forward with three guards on the floor at all times.

The change worked perfectly, as Iowa State scored 49 points and had no turnovers after the intermission.

“We just made a decision at halftime that, if they are going to play four guards, rather than us trying to put our big guys in tough spots – let’s just play four guards with them and hope our guards can wear them out in the end,” McDermott said.

With all the excitement surrounding the weekend, the Cyclones were a little overzealous coming out, turning the ball over on their first two possessions. After a 3-pointer and a driving layup by senior Alex Thompson, the Cyclones went on a four-and-a-half minute scoring drought.

“Every player knew what a big day this was for the organization, so we maybe came out a little too excited and rushed some shots,” said senior Jiri Hubalek.

After two free throws by Clark with 10:31 remaining, the first points by a Cyclone starter, the basket may as well have had a lid on it. Iowa State didn’t score again until the 1:35 mark, missing seven shots and turning the ball over eight times on the way to 19 percent shooting for the half.

“When you have everybody on your team play your worst basketball, that is going to be a bad combination,” said junior Sean Haluska, who tied Hubalek to lead the Cyclones in scoring with 12 points.

Guard Cookie Miller led Nebraska with 14 points and center Aleks Maric chipped in 11.

When the Cyclones returned from the locker room after halftime, they came out with a determination to get a much-needed win – not only for the standings, but to keep the positive atmosphere of the whole celebration alive.

After a quick bucket down low from Hubalek, junior Bryan Petersen hit back-to-back threes, forcing a Nebraska timeout and reinvigorating the Hilton faithful, who had been yearning for a reason to get on their feet.

“We settled in and moved the ball a little better,” McDermott said. “We put the guys in different spots and they made better reads in the second half.”

The team shot a scorching 58 percent from the field in the second, just one turnaround in a matchup McDermott said was “the strangest game I’ve ever been a part of.”

That shooting, along with making 16 of 21 shots from the charity stripe, were the major reasons Iowa State was able to hold onto the lead down the stretch.

A Haluska three from the corner with the shot clock winding down gave the Cyclones a 51-42 lead with 2:07 remaining and seemed to close the door on the Cornhuskers. After that it was all free throws. Iowa State made nine of its last 12 from to clinch the win.

The fact that Haluska, an Iowa native, would play such an instrumental role in the win, playing in front of so many legends he grew up hearing about and seeing on television, seemed fitting.

“I think, in the second half, [the former players] saw what we are capable of,” Haluska said. “I think they were proud of us.”