It took some clutch shots from John Neal — John Neal? — and a great game by Jake Sullivan, but the Cyclones pulled it out as they downed the Iowa Hawkeyes 84-76 Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum.

Neal finished the night with only six points but hit a big three with 2:02 remaining to put Iowa State up by six points and stifle any chance for the Hawkeyes to gain any momentum.

“My assistant Damon Archibald said, ‘Put John Neal in, I think he can hit some threes,’ so I put him in,” head coach Wayne Morgan said. “[He} came in off the bench and hit two threes, he was great.”

Neal’s ability to shoot was no surprise to Iowa head coach Steve Alford.

“He was on our scouting report all week,” Alford said. “He’s a shooter.”

Sullivan went 7-for-13 from the field and led the Cyclones with 22 points.

Up until the final minute, the game was a seesaw battle that saw one lead change after another, especially in the second half.

After leading 43-34 at halftime, the Cyclones came out somewhat flat, letting Iowa claim the lead 55-54 midway through the second half. Iowa’s lead grew to as many as four points when the Hawks went up 66-62 with 6:40 remaining, but it did not last.

Powered by an ecstatic soldout Hilton crowd, the Cyclones reclaimed the lead for good with 2:50 remaining on a fastbreak lay-up by Damion Staple.

“The crowd was fantastic, especially down the stretch,” Morgan said. “They made it difficult for Iowa to run their stuff at one point. It was like they were out there as a sixth man.”

The victory may have been bittersweet for the Cyclones and their fans, as junior center Jared Homan went down with a leg injury late in the second half.

Leading all scorers was Hawkeye sophomore Jeff Horner, who finished the game with 26 points. Iowa had three other players in double digits as Brody Boyd, Glen Worley and Pierre Pierce scored 14, 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Pierce had to play through boos and derogatory remarks the entire game and fought through a scoreless first half to score all his points in the second half. Pierce also held freshman Curtis Stinson to only 5-of-16 from the field.

“He’s a very tough individual,” Alford said. “I thought he did a very tough job on Stinson in the first half.”

Rounding out the scoring for the Cyclones, Jackson Vroman had 18 points and 14 rebounds and Stinson and Damion Staple chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Staple’s point total was a season and career best.

Morgan said he has to give a lot of credit to Staple and his team’s unwillingness to give up when they were down late in the game.

“I have to give a tremendous amount of credit to Damion Staple,” Morgan said. “[And] my kids showed a lot of heart.”