ISU coach Greg McDermott doesn’t believe in moral victories.

He sees basketball games in black and white; a win is a win and a loss is a loss.

“We’re not to the point where we can stick our chests out and be proud of the fact that we took Kansas to overtime and that’s going to do us any good on Wednesday against Colorado, because it’s not,” McDermott said.

“Every game in the Big 12 is tough, and our margin for error is so slim. We can’t afford to have a bad practice or to lose focus. This team is together, you have to be to play a team like Kansas and battle like we did when we got down early, and battle back to be in a position to win.”

But their coach’s views don’t make what the Cyclones did Saturday at Hilton Coliseum any less impressive.

A young ISU team still getting its feet wet in Big 12 play took then-No. 6 Kansas to overtime, before falling to the Jayhawks, 68-64.

“Our guys battled,” McDermott said. “Defensively we executed our game plan relatively well. We had opportunities. This was a great college basketball game. But somebody had to lose.”

Iowa State is 2-1 in Big 12 play and 11-6 overall. The 2-1 record is just the second time in the last five years that Iowa State has opened league play by winning two of its first three games.

Kansas entered the game with an eight game win streak on the line, but for all their early season success and six McDonald’s All-Americans, they could not shake the Cyclones.

Mike Taylor led Iowa State with 21 points, but made just seven of his 23 shots.

Late in the game, Kansas’ used the larger-bodied Brandon Rush to guard Taylor, and Rush kept the Cyclones’ go-to player from getting anything going in the game’s final minutes.

“We were ready for what Kansas had to bring at us,” Taylor said.

The Cyclones held a two point lead at halftime, forcing 11 first half Kansas turnovers.

Iowa State shot just 37 percent for the game, but their defense allowed them to stay close to the Jayhawks.

Iowa State took a three point lead with 8:21 to play on a three pointer by Taylor, a lead they wouldn’t give up until overtime.

Both teams traded baskets before Kansas tied the game at 53 with 2:16 to go. Iowa State went up by three, but Rush – who had been quiet offensively all game – drained a three with 56 seconds to play to tie the game at 58, sending it to an extra period.

In overtime, it was all Rush.

Down two, Mario Chalmers found Rush for and alley-oop, and then, with the game still tied, Rush stripped Taylor and took the ball coast-to-coast for an uncontested dunk.

That was the basket that put Kansas up for good, and for the Cyclones it was almost the biggest win of McDermott’s young ISU career.

“We’re definitely getting there,” McDermott said. “I’m proud of them. We stuck to our plan today, we just came up short.”

Once again, Iowa State received huge games from Wesley Johnson and Jiri Hubalek. Johnson recorded his ninth double-double of the season, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Hubalek scored 13 and played strong post defense on Kansas’ Sasha Kaun before foul trouble limited his second half minutes.

Reserve guard Dodie Dunson played strong off the bench, scoring 11 points and hitting three treys for the Cyclones.

Iowa State’s next game is a road contest with tip-off set for 8 p.m. Wednesday against Colorado.