It wasn’t easy or expected, but the ISU men’s basketball team completed a successful defense of the Big 12 regular season title with an 86-73 victory over Nebraska Saturday in Hilton Coliseum.The Cyclones had wrapped up at least a share of the conference crown, but Saturday’s win gave the team sole possession of the title for the second straight year. The Cyclones finished 13-3 in the Big 12, 25-4 overall, one game ahead of Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma.Next for the Cyclones is an attempt to defend their title at this week’s Big 12 tournament in Kansas City where they will be the No. 1 seed.The Cornhuskers made the Cyclones earn their spoils though, maintaining a steady lead throughout most of the game before a second half surge which put the Cyclones on top.”Give Nebraska all the credit in the world,” ISU head coach Larry Eustachy said. “I think all year we’ve caught everybody’s best shot, and that was definitely a big punch by them today. At times, I honestly didn’t know if we’re going to be able to get it done today.”With the loss of three starters, including All-American Marcus Fizer, the Cyclones weren’t listed among the top contenders for the conference title in the preseason.”I’m really proud of our guys, and this is a special deal because we weren’t picked first, we weren’t picked anywhere,” Eustachy said. “Marcus is gone; we have no chance is what was said. I knew Paul and Martin were better than people thought. On a day in which five Cyclone seniors were honored, ISU senior point guard Jamaal Tinsley gave back to the crowd by turning in a spectacular performance, leading the Cyclone second-half rally.Tinsley finished with a career-high 29 points and also added five steals and five assists. After Iowa State took the lead near the 10 minute mark, Tinsley scored 17 points down the stretch to help keep the Cyclones in the lead and fight off Cornhusker rallies.”Some guys melt when it gets tough, but Jamaal just gets tougher,” Eustachy said. “He’s secretariat, he’s a great thoroughbred. When it comes time to really put the hammer down and win the game, I’ve never had anyone close to his ability.”Tinsley had extra incentive Saturday as he was trying to close out a perfect two-year record of 34-0 at Hilton Coliseum, and do so in front of 11 friends and family who made the long trip from Brooklyn, NY.”I didn’t want to lose on my court, I’ve never lost here, and I’m really happy I accomplished that,” Tinsley said. “It was really special to have my family out here — all of them coming out here to support me, and I appreciate it.”Martin Rancik hit two free throws to give the Cyclones a 57-55 lead with 10:12 left, it was the Cyclones’ first lead since the first five minutes of the game. The Cyclones tried to open up a comfortable lead, but the Huskers kept battling back until Tinsley put the final nail in the coffin.Leading just 72-69, the Cyclones went on a 7-0 run, all courtesy of Tinsley. The All-American drilled a three-pointer and then followed with a pair of acrobatic drives to the hoop.”It wasn’t me taking the game over, it was just me having opportunities to get into the situations I was getting in,” Tinsley said. “I couldn’t do it without my teammates. Sometimes I was penetrating, and basically I was just passing the ball, and the ball was coming back to me, and I was making the shots.”The Huskers started the game on a blistering pace, racing to a 20-10 lead. The rest of the half saw the momentum swing as both teams traded runs, and the Huskers took a 38-34 lead into halftime. The Huskers shot 50 percent in the first half and made six treys.”They just came out and played harder than us in the first half,” Tinsley said. “They made a run, we couldn’t stop them. They made a lot of shots, a lot of three-pointers, and we were missing shots.”Horton added 17 points while Paul Shirley turned in a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds. Martin Rancik scored 13 points, all coming from free throws as the Cyclones scored 35 points from the charity stripe.The Huskers were playing without one of their best players, Kimani Ffriend, who was injured in practice Friday night. Cookie Belcher picked up the slack, tallying 25 points while Kevin Augustine and Cary Cochran finished with 16 and 12 points respectively.The Huskers finished the game with a shooting percentage of 54 percent. It marked the third straight game that the Cyclones have given up more than 50 percent shooting by their opponent.”We gave up 52 percent again, and it’s a little misleading because they turned the ball over. We had some great steals, and I think our crowd motivated us,” Eustachy said. “I’m concerned, and I’m going to voice that concern to the team. Look where we stand, and there’s wide margin for improvement in a small amount of time.”