Iowa State tackled the second half of its bout with the men of Kansas Wednesday, but the Wildcats provided none of the intensity or drama that their Jayhawk counterparts brought on Saturday.

Though the enthusiasm may have been lacking, the outcome was much the same, as the Cyclones posted an impressive 85-67 win.

“This was a tough game for us to play, coming off the Kansas win,” head coach Larry Eustachy said. “I was still excited about beating Kansas, so I can imagine the guys still were, too.”

One of those guys, Marcus Fizer, played inspired from start to finish, knocking down 12-of-22 shots for 28 points. In addition, the power forward also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

Iowa State traded baskets with Kansas State for the first five minutes of the game before grabbing a lead it wouldn’t relinquish at the 14:58 mark.

Kantrail Horton lined up for one of his four three-pointers and sparked a run that would give the Cyclones a 10-point lead.

The Wildcats made several key buckets to keep the game in reach, but Iowa State was overbearing in the paint, knocking down the majority of it’s inside shots and dominating the boards.

At the halftime buzzer, the Cyclones led 45-29 and wouldn’t look back.

The Cyclone’s lead would swell to over 20, but hot outside shooting by the Wildcats in the final five minutes kept the game from becoming an embarrassment.

“You’ve got to give Kansas State credit,” Eustachy said. “They could’ve packed it in there at the end, but they didn’t.”

Horton, no longer shy from the perimeter, had a great shooting game for the Cyclones, finishing with 17 points.

“I don’t think Kantrail can shoot it enough,” Eustachy said. “I wish he’d shoot 12 threes a night. He’s quite a guy and quite a competitor.”

Perhaps the most inspiring of the Cyclones was guard Michael Nurse who played 36 minutes just 24 hours after visiting the hospital with tonsillitis.

“I don’t know if we could’ve won this game without Mike Nurse,” Eustachy said. “I told him when he came out that I couldn’t have been prouder of a guy than I was of him.”

Nurse knocked down three trays of his own and finished the game with 16 points to go with five assists and three steals.

“Everybody on our team is tough like that,” Fizer said. “Everybody comes out to play no matter what. We know how important it is to play every game.”

Jamaal Tinsley, who received a technical foul in the second half for his reaction to a regular foul call, had an off night.

The usually flamboyant point guard managed just two points and committed half a dozen turnovers in just 27 minutes of play.

Despite an unimpressive performance overall, Tinsley still came up with five assists and a trio of steals.

“Jamaal had an off night tonight, but he’ll bounce back. [He’s] a great guy,” Eustachy said. “The technical was just a reaction out there. He hasn’t given up on us, so why would we give up on him?”

Cortex Groves led the Wildcat cause with 18 points, including four three-pointers on just six attempts.

Kelvin Howell and native Iowan Josh Kimm also broke into double-figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Despite the double-digit win, most of the Cyclones were less than excited with their effort after the game.

“It wasn’t so hard to prepare for the game,” Fizer said. “It was just a matter of us not being able to execute like we were supposed to. We know that isn’t going to get it done when we go to Missouri.”

“We’ve been playing in spurts,” Horton said. “We’ve just got to come into practice and get it back together.”

Even Eustachy emphasized how much better the team was capable of playing.

“We struggled at times,” he said. “I don’t know if ‘letdown’ is the word, but at times we were our own worst enemy.”

Despite all of that, the Cyclones still moved to 19-3 with a big 18-point victory. Even more important, they sit atop the Big 12 standings.

“We’re 7-1,” Eustachy said. “It’s kind of neat.”