Most would say the men’s National Invitation Tournament takes a distant backseat to the March Madness of the NCAA Tournament.

Don’t tell that to the ISU men’s basketball team.

After Tuesday night’s NIT second- round win over Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla., ISU head coach Wayne Morgan said he’s never seen his Cyclones so excited.

“They were more excited than even after the Texas game,” Morgan said. Iowa State beat the then-No.11 Longhorns 78-77 in Ames on Feb. 14. “It was really incredible; they ran into the locker room and put their arms around each other and jumped up and down for about 10 minutes.”

Most of the reason for the Cyclones’ excitement lies in the fact that Tuesday’s win was Iowa State’s first win on the road outside the state of Iowa in more than three years.

Senior guard Jake Sullivan said it was great to get the proverbial road monkey off his and his team’s back.

“It was a big win for me; a lot of people doubted us and me on the road, but it was just one step,” Sullivan said.

The Cyclones barely have time to breathe before they take on Marquette Thursday night in Hilton Coliseum. One more Cyclone victory secures a berth in the NIT Final Four, to be played at Madison Square Garden in New York.

With Marquette only one year removed from an NCAA Final Four appearance, Morgan said the 19-11 Golden Eagles’ tournament experience will make them a more-than-formidable opponent.

“Marquette’s a very good team, a team with a lot of kids that played in the Final Four last year,” Morgan said.

Marquette comes into Thursday’s game led by point guard Travis Diener’s 18.6 points and 6.1 assists per game. Forwards Steve Novak and Scott Merritt are the only other Golden Eagles to average in double digit scoring with 12.7 and 11.5 points a game, respectively.

Hundreds of hopeful Cyclone fans waited in line Wednesday as the game, along with a Women’s National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal between Iowa State and St. Joseph’s, sold out in only a couple of hours. Morgan said Marquette is in for a heavy dose of Hilton Magic.

“Marquette thought they had good fans and that they were loud,” Morgan said. “I think they’re going to be in for a special treat tomorrow.”

With only a short time to prepare, Morgan said it’s important for him not to work his players too hard in practice.

“We have to take it easy, we don’t want to leave our legs [for Thursday] in the gym,” Morgan said. “[But] we’re not shifting gears, we’re staying in the same gear.”

Morgan said his 19-12 Cyclones will be ready for Marquette with Iowa State playing the best it has all season.

“We might be playing the best ball we’ve played all season in a combination of playing hard and understanding what we’re trying to accomplish and playing with some purpose,” Morgan said.

Sullivan credits the team’s turnaround to Iowa State’s trip to Dallas for the Big 12 Tournament.

“Something just clicked when we went down to Dallas, and we just came together as a team,” Sullivan said. “I think we put a chip on our shoulder to prove we could go on the road and beat good teams. We’re going to keep that chip on our shoulder, and hopefully we can win this whole thing.”