ISU senior guard Kantrail Horton saved one of his best offensive performances of the season for Kansas last Monday night. Horton was a perfect 4-4 from three-point land, pouring in 19 points altogether. The stocky 6-1, 225 pound, combo-guard’s unselfish play and senior leadership have been two of the biggest factors in the Cyclones reaching 20 wins faster than any other team in school history.Horton hails from Covington, Ga., where he was area athlete of the year as a senior at Newton County High School and also a second-team all-state selection as a junior and senior. Horton put up 18.3 ppg, 9.1 rpg and 7.4 apg as a senior before moving onto Middle Georgia Junior College.At Middle Georgia JC, Demetrius Kantrail Horton, averaged 15.5 ppg, 7.0 apg and 4.0 rpg as a freshman and earned preseason JUCO All-American recognition heading into his second season. As a sophomore, Kantrail upped his scoring average to 16.5 ppg and increased his defensive prowess on the court. He averaged 3.1 steals that season and also knocked down 70 three-pointers, shooting 48 percent from behind the arc.Up to this point in his career, Horton had always played point guard and been counted on for scoring and ball handling. He was originally recruited to play the off guard and also split time at the point with then-ISU point guard Travis Spivey. Spivey has since transferred to Utah, and All-American candidate Jamaal Tinsley has assumed the point guard spot.Nonetheless, Horton’s competitive nature and defensive abilities helped him find his way into the ISU lineup and earn a start in all 35 games that he played in last season. He averaged 34.8 minutes per contest last season, scored 8.7 ppg, grabbed 4.1 rpg and often drew the assignment of guarding the opponent’s most dangerous offensive player. “I just get a thrill out of defending and stopping people,” Horton said. “The competitive nature that I have just gives me the drive to do that.”Offensively, Horton took a back seat to Marcus Fizer last season and played a role that would help last year’s team to the best record in school history.This season, Horton has regained some of his offensive-mindedness and been more aggressive with the basketball. He is currently averaging 11.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg. In Big 12 play, Horton averages 13.7 ppg and is shooting 50 percent (23-46) from three-point territory. He is also deadly at the free-throw line, hitting 32-34 in conference play, and at one point had made 31 straight.”This year coach [Eustachy] told me I was going to have to score a little more because we don’t have Marcus Fizer in the middle anymore. I just came in more offensive-minded and more aggressive on the offensive end,” Horton said.He has also taken a liking to letting Tinsley, or “Mel” as he calls him, handle and distribute the basketball, “by playing point guard all my life, I know some of the decisions Jamaal’s going to make before he makes them,” Horton said. “On the court then, both of us know where the other is going to be pretty much all the time. We could be one of the top backcourts in the country.”When asked about Horton’s improvements since last season, Eustachy said, “he’s really stepped up his leadership, consistence and improved in all areas through hard work.”Horton will graduate this summer with a degree in sociology and plans to continue playing following his career here in Ames. His plans also include playing with his teammates late into March. “I see us going deep into the NCAA tournament. People think that we’ve played our best basketball, but we’ve still got a lot of room for improvement,” Horton said. “We’ve been giving up 50 percent from the field in our last two games, and that’s not our game. We beat people by stopping them, not by scoring three-pointers. So once we get that down, we’re going to go deep in the NCAA tournament.”Horton, Tinsley and the rest of the 20-3 Cyclones will go for their 33rd consecutive win at home and eighth straight conference win when they host the Missouri Tigers Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Missouri won the first meeting between the two teams earlier this season at Columbia, 112-109 in four overtimes.