Texas point-guard T.J. Ford watched most of the second half from the bench Saturday night after straining a groin muscle, but his team didn’t skip a beat.

The Longhorns came back to beat the ISU men’s basketball team, 79-76 at Hilton Coliseum in a very physical contest.

The game came down to the wire as Texas’ Brandon Mouton went one for two at the free throw line with four seconds left, giving his team a three-point lead. The Cyclones raced downcourt, but Jake Sullivan’s three-point shot missed at the buzzer.

Sullivan said it looked good to him.

“Obviously it was a difficult shot, falling away from 20 feet,” he said. “But it was a shot when it left my hand I thought it was good. It was straight on, and it just didn’t go in.”

It was the seventh game this season that the Cyclones have had a chance to win or tie at the buzzer and have lost.

Texas hit its first six shots of the game, but the Cyclones withheld the surge and pulled even with the Longhorns at 17 on Sullivan’s three-pointer. After Marcus Jefferson’s block on the other end, Jared Homan tossed the outlet pass to Shane Power in stride, and he converted to give the Cyclones the lead and bring the crowd of 13,003 to its feet.

Iowa State shot 65 percent in the first half, but held a slim three-point lead at the break, 38-35.

Just two and a half minutes into the second half, Ford, who leads the nation in assists per game, went to the locker room for Texas after writhing in pain near mid-court.

Good fortunes for the Cyclones, right?

Wrong.

Senior Freddie Williams stepped in for Ford to manage the Texas offense and finished with four points, two assists and two steals.

Sullivan said the Longhorns didn’t seem any slower with Williams at the point.

“At times it almost seemed a little bit faster,” he said. “Freddie Williams is an experienced guy. I think he’s the reason we lost tonight.”

Mouton hit a three for Texas to tie the score at 63 with 6:43 remaining, but the Cyclones jumped ahead again with a rare six-point possession.

Tyray Pearson dished the ball to Homan and he got the lay-up to fall despite an intentional foul by Jason Klotz. Homan made both free throws and Ricky Morgan scooped in a lay-up to stretch the lead to 69-63.

After Texas scored, the crowd went nuts when Sullivan’s shot was off the mark, but Homan was there for the thunderous put-back dunk.

Iowa State got an eight-point lead – its largest of the game – on a basket by Pearson with 3:37 to play. ISU head coach Larry Eustachy, known for his animation along the sidelines, leaped three feet in the air trying to pump up his team.

Texas closed the game on a 14-3 run including a big trey from Brian Boddicker and six points from James Thomas. Thomas finished the game with 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Longhorns.

Eustachy said his team doesn’t rely on offense to win games, but rather defense and rebounding.

“We collapsed,” he said. “We just

didn’t have it in us to finish that game off. It was glaring at the end that they were harder than us.”

It was Pearson’s last game as a Cyclone at Hilton Coliseum, and the senior finished with 21 points. He said the loss was a hard one to swallow.

“It’s difficult,” said Pearson, who had his grandparents in attendance. “I don’t feel as bad because I don’t think it was one of our worst games. I’m glad it’s not over yet.”

Shane Power, who had 19 points for the Cyclones, said the team will move on from this defeat.

“This is basketball. You live to be in these situations, but Michael Jordan missed more game-winning shots than he made,” Power said.

“You love the competition and you do everything you can to win, but after the game, you don’t put your head down and cry about it.”

Sullivan and Pearson both said that when the Cyclones hit the floor at the Big 12 tournament, they will start with a clean slate. Iowa State will take on Missouri at 8:20 p.m. Thursday. The Cyclones split with the Tigers this season, winning in Ames 71-67 and falling by three points at Missouri.

“We’re going to go in with nothing to lose,” Pearson said. “We’re just going to go out there and try to play hard, knowing that that’s our only chance to get in [the NCAA Tournament]. And if we win it, there’s no telling what could happen after that.”