Hilton Magic has been MIA for much of the ISU men’s basketball season thus far, but the Cyclones were able to conjure up a little bit for Wednesday’s 68-52 victory over Oklahoma State.

Iowa State fell behind early and looked sluggish, disinterested and headed for a fifth consecutive loss before they snapped out of their funk.

Shots were falling, the defensive pressure was forcing turnovers and the crowd was loud during a 17-2 Cyclone run to close out the final 9:33 of the first half.

“Our defense at one point stopped them like 10 possessions in a row without a basket,” said ISU guard Will Blalock. “Our defense is fueling our offense. Getting turnovers really gets us going. That’s how we play.”

The defense actually held Oklahoma State without a basket on 12 consecutive first-half possessions, and forced nine turnovers in the run that resulted in nine minutes between Cowboy scores.

“The fact that they had 24 turnovers is great,” said ISU coach Wayne Morgan. “That’s a great stat for us.”

Thirteen of Oklahoma State’s 24 turnovers came in the first half to Iowa State’s pressuring defense. Comparing that to just 10 field goals made for the Cowboys can make any Cyclone smile.

“Our defense really stepped it up,” Blalock said. “Our bigs played well. Everyone worked hard.”

Iowa State also scored the first four points of the second half, outscoring the Cowboys 21-2 before Oklahoma State got back on track.

The run built the Cyclones lead to 11 at 35-24 and put Iowa State ahead for good. The Cowboys never mounted a serious threat to comeback, pulling only within five points at 45-40 before Iowa State ran off a 15-4 run and never looked back.