LAWRENCE, Kan. – The ISU men’s basketball team’s postseason hopes just got a little Phoggier.

Entering Saturday’s game against Kansas at legendary “Phog” Allen Fieldhouse, the Cyclones were clinging to hopes that a late season run would give them enough wins to make the NCAA tournament.

An 88-75 loss to the red-hot Jayhawks has dropped the Cyclones to 4-6 in the Big 12 with just six games to play, and time is running out.

“We have six games left and we really have to take these games and try to win four, five or six of them and get on a run going into postseason play,” ISU guard John Neal said.

The only recipe for Iowa State now is to win, and the Cyclones will most likely have to run the table through their final games to earn a trip to the big dance.

“Our backs were against the wall going into this game but they’re definitely against the wall for the rest of the season,” Neal said.

Still on the schedule for the Cyclones is Nebraska, Missouri and Colorado, all teams they have already beaten once this season. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor round out Iowa State’s schedule.

“We have a lot of games we have to win, but the way our schedule is I think we’ll have a chance to win our share of those games,” ISU coach Wayne Morgan said.

Kansas, on the other hand, is peaking at just the right time.

The Jayhawks are riding a seven-game win streak and have been victorious in 14 of their last 16 contests.

An 8-2 Big 12 record puts Kansas in second place in the conference, one game behind No. 6 Texas. The two teams play Feb. 25, a game that may well decide the Big 12’s regular season champion.

“Kansas is a very good team and they played well and made a lot of good plays,” Morgan said.

With so much on the line for both teams, tempers flared quickly and often.

“It got really out of hand,” said ISU forward Rahshon Clark. “The teams were trying to play aggressive and players didn’t like it.

“We tried to get aggressive and they didn’t like it, how we were getting aggressive.”

Iowa State’s Shawn Taggart and Kansas’ C.J. Giles were whistled for technical fouls in the second half after a shoving match took place under the Kansas basket.

“It was two competitive teams,” Morgan said. “You have a bunch of kids who are highly competitive on both sides.”

After taking exception to the officiating in Iowa State’s three-point loss at Kansas State Wednesday, the Cyclones had more complaints about the officiating Saturday.

Iowa State was whistled for 28 fouls while Kansas committed just 18.

“The refs called a lot of fouls,” Clark said. “Obviously we felt we weren’t fouling, but the refs saw it a different way. We thought we were getting fouled on the other end, as well, but the refs didn’t see it that way either.”

Cyclone big men Taggart and Jiri Hubalek both fouled out, Taggart leaving after only contributing 11 minutes.

Trailing by 15 at the half, the Cyclones came charging back, pulling themselves to within four with 13:29 to play.

But an 18-6 Kansas run in the next eight minutes put the game out of reach.

“We still felt we had a chance to win the game,” Neal said. “We knew that if we kept doing what we do, we’d have a chance to get it close and cut it down, which we did.

“We just couldn’t finish if off.”

Will Blalock led Iowa State with 21 points and six assists, while Curtis Stinson had 19 points and eight dimes. Hubalek added 14 points before fouling out.

Four Jayhawks scored in double figures, led by Mario Chalmers, who scored 23.

Iowa State’s next game is Wednesday when it hosts Nebraska. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.