LINCOLN, Neb. – With his hospitalized mother weighing on his mind, Curtis Stinson turned in one of his best performances of the season.

The junior guard scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half to lead Iowa State to an 88-75 victory over Nebraska on Tuesday night.

Hours before the game, Stinson found out his mother, Rosezine Stinson, was in a New York hospital with a heart ailment.

He said he never considered going home after his sister told him their mom wanted him to play.

“My mom said, ‘Go out and win this one,'” Stinson said. “I did. I went out there and played hard.”

Stinson said his mom was on his mind while he was warming up and while he played.

“That’s all I could think about,” he said. “She watched all my games she could. I went out and played the game because that’s what she wanted me to do. She taught me how to be strong. I was strong today.”

Rahshon Clark said Stinson didn’t tell them about his mother’s heart problem. Nor did Clark see a difference in Stinson’s play.

“He played like he always plays,” Clark said.

“He plays aggressive and he plays hard.”

Iowa State coach Wayne Morgan said he admired the way Stinson responded to the adversity.

“He came in here and had a phenomenal all-around game,” Morgan said. “For him to come out and play the game that he played under that tragedy is incredible.”

Stinson said his mother has had heart and breathing problems for about a year. He said he might miss Saturday’s home game against Texas A&M to be with her.

Stinson got scoring support Tuesday from Will Blalock, who had 21 points, and from Clark and Jiri Hubalek, who had 11 points apiece.

The Cyclones (12-5, 2-2 Big 12) used a 23-6 run to build an 11-point halftime lead and took its biggest lead, 67-48, on John Neal’s 3-pointer with 8:31 left.

Nebraska (12-4, 2-1) tried to come back, with Wes Wilkinson’s 3-pointer cutting the Cyclones’ lead to 74-65.

But Shawn Taggert converted a three-point play and hit a jumper to put the Cyclones up 79-65 with 2:10 left.

Iowa State built its halftime lead behind Blalock, who hit three 3-pointers during the 23-6 run that included his buzzer-beater to make it 41-30.

Nebraska was able to pull within six points early in the second half. But the Cyclones quickly rebuilt the lead to double figures.

Wilkinson led Nebraska with 19 points. Marcus Walker had 14 and Aleks Maric 13 for the Huskers, who had come into the game in a tie with Texas for first place in the Big 12.

“We made the game up and down, and that’s what we wanted to do,” Stinson said.