The last time men’s basketball coach Larry Eustachy walked up the stairs into the media room at Hilton to talk about a loss, Jamaal Tinsley was in the locker room.

More than two seasons and 39 home wins later, Eustachy once again had to talk about a loss. But this time the loss didn’t come at the hands of any Big 12 rivals such as Missouri or Kansas – it came against San Jose State.

“We’ve had a heck of a run, 30 something straight,” Eustachy said. “I think it’s important how you handle it and I take full responsibility, I really do. I can’t seem to get our guys to bring it everyday.”

After defeating Wisconsin-Milwaukee 71-62 in the first game of the Tribune Cyclone Challenge on Friday, the Cyclones took San Jose State down to the last play, but came up short in a 64-62 loss.

ISU senior Tyray Pearson led the Cyclones with 21 points and 18 rebounds against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and added 25 points against San Jose State, earning him the captain’s spot on the all-tournament team.

The loss made Pearson’s accomplishments bitter sweet, and he is already looking ahead to how this team can improve.

“It’s back to the drawing board, which is practice,” Pearson said. “Just try to do the things we’ve been doing and try to get this team to be more physical and play harder.”

Shane Power, who hasn’t sat out a single minute in four games, also made the all-tournament team with 18 points against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and 10 against San Jose State.

Iowa State led San Jose State at half 23-21, but couldn’t hold on in the final minutes of the second half. Two free throws by Tommie King put the Cyclones within one point with 14 seconds left in the game.

When San Jose State’s leading scorer Phil Calvert converted only one free throw after an Omar Bynum foul, Power brought the ball up with 10 seconds left.

San Jose State’s defense tightened and Power was forced to put up a desperation three with no success.

“We wanted to make a basket. That’s what we wanted to do, but we couldn’t quite do it,” Eustachy said. “We got out hustled, got out coached, got out everything. It’s a great win for San Jose State. We couldn’t match their hustle from the beginning to the end.”

Eustachy once again attributed his team’s lack of hustle and intensity to incomplete practices.

“This team has probably out practiced us the last seven or eight weeks, so they deserved to win,” Eustachy said. “It’s tough for our guys to bring it on a consistent basis, whether it’s practice or the games.”

The Cyclone Challenge brought out the biggest crowds of the season thus far at Hilton, something Eustachy definitely doesn’t want to take for granted.

“I’ll tell you what is the most amazing thing that I’ve ever witnessed in my life in athletics and ever will, is when this game was over, our fans over the tunnel are saying `way to go Larry,’ `good hustle,’ `great game,’ `nice try.’ Anywhere else they would be throwing Coke on your head, throwing popcorn on you,” Eustachy said.

“They are unbelievable. I think my biggest regret is that I feel like we let them down, not necessarily win or losing. I’d like to have tried as hard as we did in the last five minutes the whole game. I think we’ll get to that point, it will just take some time.”

And time is something the Cyclones do have. Big 12 Conference games won’t start until January, but December has the men playing such teams as No. 7 Iowa, No. 15 Boston College and Drake.

Eustachy will keep the plan simple.

“This team has to learn to try harder,” he said.

The Cyclones aim to start a new home winning streak Tuesday night against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 7 p.m.

San Jose State head coach Steve Barnes, a former assistant under Eustachy at Iowa State, Utah State and Idaho, wasn’t the only familiar face on San Jose State’s side Saturday.

Former ISU guard Brandon Hawkins, who saw significant playing time as a freshman during the ’99-’00 season, transfered to San Jose State last year and will begin playing for the Spartans on December 18.

This was Hawkins’ first time in Hilton as an opponent.

“It was hard, but it’s good,” Hawkins said. “The crowd is great to see, because we don’t get attendance like that in San Jose. It was a great game, hard fought game.”