KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy talks a lot about his team’s toughness.

That trait, which has defined the Big 12 champion Cyclones all season, showed up again in Sunday’s 70-58 win over Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game.

Both teams were playing their third game in as many days, and both survived physical battles the day before.

But on this day, it was Iowa State that mustered up the energy to produce the school’s first conference tournament championship since 1996.

“We’ve been fighting for respect all year, as recently as today. The story in the paper today was about Oklahoma and not us. I’m not trying to take anything away from anybody, but we’re just tough,” Eustachy said.

Iowa State jumped out to an early 17-6 lead, and the advantage never fell below six after that point.

The Cyclones threatened to blow the game open when they went up 35-17 on a Michael Nurse three-pointer, but Oklahoma closed the half with an 8-0 run and scored the first basket in the second half to trim the lead to eight.

“We knew they were going to make a run. I’ve said before that I think (Oklahoma coach) Kelvin Sampson is one of the top coaches in America, and his teams will never ever quit,” Eustachy said.

But Jamaal Tinsley came up big, as he has done so often this year.

First it was a drive to the hoop that Tinsley finished with a lay-up. The next time down the floor, the junior point guard from Brooklyn, N.Y., glided down the lane and hit an off-balanced shot while being fouled.

Tinsley completed the three-point play, and the ISU advantage was restored to a comfortable 13.

“People talk about how important guard play is, but more specifically, it’s point guard play. Iowa State is so good at the point of attack with Tinsley, he really doesn’t get the credit he deserves for what he gives them,” Sampson said.

What the flashy guard gave the Cyclones this game was 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Tinsley wasn’t the only problem for Oklahoma. The Sooners shot only 35 percent for the game, and Sampson believes that the third game took its toll.

“I could see that we just weren’t as fresh as we normally are. But at the same time, you have to give Iowa State credit. They beat us today,” Sampson said.

Iowa State concentrated its efforts on Eduardo Najera, the all-conference forward that scored 26 points the first time these two teams met in January.

Najera did end up with 19 points and nine rebounds, but the Cyclone defense didn’t let him dictate the game.

“He’s a great player and we just wanted to limit his touches,” said ISU forward Stevie Johnson. “We had a game plan against him, and we executed pretty well.”

The ISU fans again filled Kemper Arena, which recorded an attendance of 19,100 Sunday. The Cyclone faithful vastly outnumbered Oklahoma fans.

“When they made a run, I felt like we were in Hilton,” Sampson said.

The Cyclones were led by Marcus Fizer, who put in a game-high 22 points while also pulling down nine rebounds.

Fizer, who was named the most outstanding player of the tournament, scored a record 79 points in the three games.

“It feels great to win it, but at the same time we know we still have work to do in the NCAA tournament,” Fizer said.

Also joining Fizer on the all-tournament team were teammates Tinsley and Johnson along with the Sooners’ Najera and Chris Mihm of Texas.

Sampson thinks the Cyclones will be a handful in postseason play.

“They are a very, very good team who could go very far in the tournament. They have a couple of great players in Fizer and Tinsley, and they are tough,” Sampson said.

The Cyclones learned after the game that they will be a No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region, with their first round in Minneapolis.

Iowa State will take on Central Connecticut State (25-5) in the first round, which will be played on Thursday.