There were many times in No. 20 Iowa State’s 65-60 win Saturday afternoon where the Cyclones had a chance to pull away from Texas. The Cyclones were the better team, getting open looks on offense and playing strong defense against a talented yet inconsistent Longhorns squad. 

But, the Cyclones didn’t hit too many of those open looks. Redshirt senior Marial Shayok had possibly his worst game since joining the team, the Cyclones went a 0-for-5 on alley-oop attempts and Texas hung around just long enough to take a second-half lead. Iowa State looked like it was headed for a loss it couldn’t take, a major setback in the race for a Big 12 Championship. 

Hilton Coliseum was tense as could be.

Freshman guard Tyrese Haliburton came back into the game with 6:07 left and the Cyclones trailing 48-45. 

Then, a Nick Weiler-Babb three and a Lindell Wigginton four-point play flipped the game’s momentum and gave Iowa State a four-point lead.

The lead was back down to one with 1:02 left, and it was Weiler-Babb who stepped up again to put Iowa State up 61-58 with a mid-range bank shot. 

Shayok, who finished with 12 points — his 21st game with double-digit points this season — said Weiler-Babb is the team’s leader. 

“He’s our point guard, he keeps everybody together, keeps everybody’s head straight,” Shayok said. “On days like today, when I was struggling, he held me right in check and made me focus on the game and not the past play.

“He does a little bit of everything, and it’s extremely huge for us.”

The Cyclones exploded for 20 points in the game’s last 5:16 after scoring just 14 points and shooting 5-for-18 from the floor in the second half’s first 14 minutes.

Texas coach Shaka Smart rued the Cyclones’ late-game scoring burst.

“I think the way we defended for the first 34 or so minutes, that’s a recipe for winning on the road,” Smart said. “But then you give up 20 in the last six minutes, obviously not gonna get it done.”

It wasn’t an easy day for Weiler-Babb and co. on offense. The Cyclones were held under their season average, shooting 42.6 percent from the floor and 38.1 percent from 3-point range. The Longhorns’ 2-3 zone stagnated Iowa State’s offensive momentum, and at times it looked like the Cyclones were out of ideas on that end of the floor.

Against Mississippi, Iowa State was effective in breaking down the Rebels’ zone by putting Horton-Tucker in the middle of the zone and letting him work. But against Texas, this set was used infrequently as Horton-Tucker was pushed to the wing. Often, Iowa State’s possessions were fractured and out of sync, allowing Texas to keep itself in the game and frustrate the typically free-scoring Cyclones.

The Longhorns did a good job of keeping Iowa State off of its rhythm, Weiler-Babb said. 

“They were a little bit more spread out [than Ole Miss],” Weiler-Babb said. “We just kinda hesitated a little too much.”

The game followed a similar pattern to the Cyclones’ loss at home to Kansas State earlier in the season: A sloppy, mucked-up game that suits the opposing team better than it does the Cyclones, followed by a late second-half burst to take the lead.

This time, though, there was no collapse in the final two minutes. Texas got within one point with around 90 seconds left, but the Cyclones showed a resolve that wasn’t as present in the team’s first two losses in conference play. 

Iowa State sits at 6-3 in the Big 12 with nine games left and a team that’s growing into itself, finishing off ugly wins that slipped away a few weeks ago and playing with confidence. The Cyclones’ hopes of ending the Kansas dominance over the conference are well and truly alive.

But, coach Steve Prohm said, there’s still a long road ahead of the Cyclones.

“At the end of the day, our guys need to want more,” Prohm said. “Our guys need to stay true to who they are and what we want to do, can’t live in peaks and valleys.

“They just gotta keep growing.”