Jiri Hubalek and Rahshon Clark looked on in shock.

The two seniors had just missed a chance to get a signature, nationally recognized win, one which would have been Greg McDermott’s first over a ranked opponent as ISU head coach.

Instead, a 13-point second-half lead and 24-point performance by Hubalek were wasted in the Cyclones’ 71-65 overtime to Texas in front of an audience of 14,094 Saturday at Hilton Coliseum.

“A loss is a loss. We might have been close, but we didn’t get it done, so obviously there is a lot to be disappointed at,” Hubalek said. “We played good ball at times, and against good teams like that you just need to play every possession as though it’s the one that will win the game, and we didn’t do that.”

Big 12 preseason Player of the Year D.J. Augustin was held in check for most of the game by the Iowa State defense, as he only shot 5 of 22 for 17 points. He was able to come back in overtime and essentially put the game away with a tough jump shot to give the No. 12 Longhorns (19-4, 6-2 Big 12) a 66-62 lead with 38 seconds left.

“You gotta keep being aggressive and keep shooting. That’s the only way you’re gonna make shots . You’ve got to play with that mentality,” Augustin said.

In overtime, Iowa State was held to only Diante Garrett’s 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to make the score 69-65.

The Cyclones (13-11, 3-6) took a 31-27 lead out of the locker room and went on an 11-2 run to start the second half, capped by a pair of Hubalek free throws to make the score 42-29 with 16:14 to play.

Iowa State was able to hold that lead for much of the half, but was unable to put away Texas in a stretch that saw the Longhorns endure a four-minute scoring drought.

“That was our chance. That was our opportunity to take it from a nine- or 10-point game to a 16- to 18-point game and maybe get away from them,” McDermott said. “If we let them hang around, you see how good they are.”

Instead, A.J. Abrams kept Texas in the game with a 16-point second-half performance on his way to scoring 25 points and frustrated a pink-clad Cyclone Alley student section ready to storm the court.

His 3-pointer with 6:51 left cut the lead to 53-49, and he tied the score at 58 minutes with another three.

“You really can’t [stop him]. He has a quick release,” Clark said. “I tried my best to not let him get the ball. I didn’t do such a good job at that. He’s a good player, he’s going to go far in his career, but the bottom line is I didn’t do a good enough job.”

After a jumper by Augustin made it 60-58 in favor of Texas – the Longhorns’ first lead since halfway through the first half – Clark drove to the hoop for two of his nine points to tie the game. Abrams and Hubalek both made a pair of free throws to keep the game tied, and Abrams missed a shot at the buzzer, taking the game into overtime.

Iowa State once again went on long stretches without scoring, including a 1-for-9 shooting performance in overtime. The Cyclones shot 36.5 percent overall, but did have three players score in double digits.

“This one stings because we followed our plan pretty well, we executed on both sides of the floor. Did we miss a lot of open shots again? Yeah, we did, and that’s something that’s happened a lot to us, and it might just be who we are,” McDermott said. “We need to find ways to win without making a lot of jump shots.

“Obviously, in overtime, Texas was committed to making sure the ball wasn’t going inside, and [said] ‘You’re going to beat us from somewhere else,’ and we didn’t take advantage of that.”

Now coming off three straight losses, Iowa State will need to come back on Wednesday at Oklahoma. Despite the losing streak, McDermott doesn’t see his team losing confidence, saying there was no finger-pointing in the locker room, and that his team was far from throwing in the towel on the season.

“It’s obviously a disappointing loss,” he said. “I think our guys are really disappointed. I think that’s a positive, because I don’t think anybody is into moral victories in our locker room, and that’s a good thing.”