Iowa State’s overtime struggles showed itself again as the ISU men’s basketball team fell to Texas A&M, 86-81 on Saturday at Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones led by as many as 10 points in the game, and by four with just 52 seconds to play in regulation, but two missed free throws by the Cyclones in the final minute allowed the Aggies to tie up the game and force the extra period in which they would win.

“I thought we played hard enough to win, but not effective enough to win,” said ISU coach Wayne Morgan. “We had our chances to win the game and to get some stops but we didn’t do it. This is a very tough loss for us.”

The loss drops the Cyclones to 12-6 overall and 2-3 in the Big 12 conference.

ISU guard Curtis Stinson gave a valiant effort after returning home from visiting his ailing mother in New York. Stinson learned just an hour before the Cyclones game against Nebraska on Wednesday that his mother had been taken to the hospital after her heart stopped.

“It’s all right,” Stinson said about his mother. “It’s going to be all right.”

Stinson poured in 19 points in the first half against the Aggies and finished with 27 before fouling out with 24 seconds left in the overtime period.

“Curtis played very hard and did all he could do to win the game,” Morgan said. “But the game came down to this: Texas A&M shot 58 percent from the floor and we shot 46 percent.”

A&M jumped out to an early seven-point lead in the game, but then went more than six minutes without a field goal in the middle of the first half as Iowa State roared ahead, building a 10-point lead.

The Cyclones led by eight at the half, but a 9-0 A&M run early in the second half brought the Aggies back, thanks in part to A&M’s nine 3-pointers in the game, including a game-tying three by Kenneth White with just 15 seconds to play.

“We gave up some easy shots at the end and they knocked them down,” Stinson said. “They needed some big plays and they made them.”

A&M was led by guard Acie Law and big man Joseph Jones, each with 17 points. Antanas Kavaliauskas added 15 for the Aggies and shot 7-10 from the floor.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Cyclones as big men Jiri Hubalek and Ross Marsden had career nights in scoring.

Hubalek set a career high with 16 points and Marsden tied his with 10 as the Cyclones big men continued to show improvement, but it still didn’t take away the sting of another home loss.

“We wanted to come back to our home court and get a win, but we just couldn’t do it,” Marsden said. “They came out in the second half and played tough. We made some mental mistakes on defense.

“We didn’t get out to the shooters and it cost us.”

Morgan also emphasized that although the Cyclones had bright spots, they still lost the game.

“If you put a gun to my head and said ‘did you play well or play bad,’ I’d say we played well, but we didn’t play well enough to win,” Morgan said. “I thought both of those guys did some nice things during the game. Unfortunately, right now I’m so disappointed that we lost the game.”

The Cyclones next see action Wednesday when they travel to Missouri. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.