He was thrust into the spotlight as a sophomore, hitting two huge shots that helped bury intrastate rival Iowa.

Since those shots went in, ISU senior guard John Neal has been trying to live up to the pressure of being Iowa State’s resident Hawkeye killer.

When sharpshooter Jake Sullivan graduated after Neal’s sophomore campaign, the guard from Winterset was thought by many to be Iowa State’s best outside threat. But things didn’t work out that way.

After spending much of his time on the bench as a freshman and as a defensive stopper as a sophomore, Neal found himself in uncharted waters.

“I don’t know that it was a lot of pressure,” Neal said. “I was put in a different role than I was before that game. Sometimes it’s not going to be the result you want, but you just have to keep coming out here and playing and just realize you’re doing something people dream about. That’s the way I approach it.”

Neal shot just 25 percent from behind the 3-point line as a junior, hitting just 18 percent of his outside shots in Big 12 play.

“It’s a season that you don’t want to have,” Neal said. “It was a tough year because you put in all that work and all that time and sometimes you don’t get the result. That’s part of sports.”

After that disappointing season, Neal hit the gym once again, working on all aspects of his game.

“I felt I was shooting good this summer,” Neal said. “I felt I was shooting good in practice.”

The time spent in the off season has paid off, and Neal has found his shooting touch once again. Neal is shooting 50 percent from outside, hitting 13 of his 26 3-point tries. He is hitting at an even higher pace in conference play, canning seven of his 10 tries from long range.

A focus on the other aspects of the game have helped Neal to relax on the court.

“He has: a) shot a lot of shots; b) I think he’s matured a great deal and c) he’s realized, ‘I’m a basketball player,'” said ISU coach Wayne Morgan. “‘I can play defense, I can run the break, I can help rebound, I can be physical. My identity is not just as a 3-point shooter,’ and once he started playing all the phases of the game it took the pressure off that one area.”

After failing to score in Iowa State’s first five games, Neal came off the bench against Drake and knocked down two 3-pointers.

Two games later he hit three shots from behind the 3-point line and scored a season high of 11 points in a win over South Florida.

“You just try to move it into the game from practice,” Neal said. “I felt good against Drake and that’s kind of gotten me going.”

Neal hit all three of his 3-point tries against Kansas State, and knocked down three more at Nebraska, emerging as the most consistent outside Cyclone threat.

“You get more and more confidence when you’re making shots,” Neal said. “If the shot is there, I’ll take it.”

Neal’s outside play has also picked up his Cyclone teammates.

“If we’re down or we’re in a scoring slump, he comes in and hits big threes,” said ISU forward Rahshon Clark.

“That’s a big lift. If he comes in and hits a couple jump shots, that’s big lift for us. We start playing even harder.”

Neal’s resurgence couldn’t have come at a better time. Last season Tasheed Carr was the player who came off the bench to provide an outside presence.

Carr has struggled this season, however, hitting just six of his 35 3-point tries on the season.

“Tasheed [Carr] is not shooting the ball well right now, but he’s going to get back into his shooting game,” Clark said.

As for Neal, this season is one last chance to show everyone the type of player he can be.

“It’s my last year,” Neal said. “Some people have high expectations for me, some people don’t expect anything from me.

“I just try to approach it as: ‘It’s my last year, it’s a great opportunity to come out and help my team out in any way I can. I have one more shot at it.’ That’s the way I approach things.”