It was time for Cyclone fans to say goodbye Wednesday at Hilton Coliseum.

Time to say goodbye to color commentator and Cyclone Hall of Famer Gary Thompson, who called his final ISU men’s basketball game.

Time to say goodbye to seniors Dave Braet, Damion Staple and Jared Homan.

With a 67-49 win over Missouri, those same seniors inched closer to leaving Hilton Magic behind.

Now standing at 16-10 overall and 8-7 in Big 12 play, the Cyclones did what they needed to do to keep NCAA tournament hopes alive.

“It’s nice to be in a position where every game means something — this is why you [play college basketball],” said head coach Wayne Morgan. “This is why the guys from New York and Boston shot jump shots in the schoolyard, this is why Jared shot all those jump shots in his barn — to be in a position like this.”

It didn’t start out as easy for the Cyclones. Iowa State quickly jumped out to a 12-4 lead, with Braet chipping in his second career field goal in that stretch.

The Cyclones, however, then went on a seven-minute scoring drought that contained a scary moment, when freshman Rahshon Clark went down clutching his left knee. Clark was helped off the court, but returned later in the half with his knee wrapped.

“I was really worried,” Morgan said. “He’ll be very sore tomorrow, but the trainer said his knee was stable and he should be fine.”

Will Blalock got the Cyclones back on the track with a slashing layup to make the score 14-8. Iowa State extended its lead to 29-19 by halftime, finishing an ugly offensive half for both teams. Neither team shot over 40 percent from the field or made a shot from behind the arc.

Apparently, halftime thawed the cold shooting hands of the Cyclones, as they jumped out to a 45-26 lead, capped by another Blalock layup. The Cyclones slapped and swatted their way to lead by as many as 25 points. They forced 22 Tiger turnovers in the game, while only committing seven. Iowa State scored 30 points off turnovers to the Tigers four, and Morgan said that made the difference in the game.

“Not only did our full-court press get some turnovers, our half-court defense got them to turn the ball over also,” Morgan said. “We have so many little guys in there, but they have heart and they keep fighting.”

Blalock led all scorers with 19 points, and Clark and Curtis Stinson threw in 14 apiece. Homan finished what he said he hopes is his final game at Hilton with his ninth double-double of the season, pouring in 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

“As much as I love playing here and wish I had another season, I don’t want to play here again — I want to play in the NCAA tournament, so we’ll see if we can make that happen,” Homan said.

With the loss, Missouri drops to 14-15 on the season and 6-9 in league play. Jason Conley led the Tigers with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

The Cyclones end their regular season at Colorado on Saturday, in what is to be a pivotal game for their NCAA tournament hopes.

“We obviously played a lot better tonight than we did the last two games,” Morgan said.