The ISU men’s basketball team took their first step toward righting the ship, pulling themselves back into the race for the top of the Big 12.

The Cyclones 96-79 win over Colorado at Hilton Coliseum Sunday pulled Iowa State into a tie with Texas Tech for sixth place in the conference.

Iowa State had fallen into ninth place going into this weekend’s slate of games, but a win has moved them back into the thick of things.

“We feel like we’re back in the race,” forward Rahshon Clark said. “We’re going to take it one game at a time, go to practice and get ready for the next game.”

Texas is clearly the team to beat in the Big 12, having lost just one conference game. A young Kansas team is in second place with a 6-2 mark, followed by Colorado and Oklahoma at 6-3.

The Cyclones are 4-4 in the Big 12 and hold a 14-7 overall record.

With six teams within three games of Texas, the race for a top-four finish and a first round bye in the Big 12 tournament is on.

“If we can sustain and win some games, we’re back in the conference race,” coach Wayne Morgan said. “It’s a tough, hard conference and we’ll have to play games and win them.”

With eight games remaining in the regular season, Iowa State is also positioning itself for a run at a possible postseason berth.

“We just feel like we have to win every single game,” Clark said. “If we don’t win every game, then we’re going to feel like we’re on the bubble, and we don’t want to be in that position.”

The Cyclones are no stranger to this situation. Last season it took a seven-game win streak in conference play and wins in nine of their last 11 games to vault Iowa State into the NCAA tournament.

“We can do that again if we start right now,” Clark said.

Four of the team’s remaining eight games come against teams with worse records than the Cyclones, and two others are against teams Iowa State has already beaten.

The Cyclones take on Kansas State on Wednesday in Manhattan and then travel to Lawrence for a game against Kansas on Saturday.

Iowa State still has home games remaining against Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Missouri.