Stevie Johnson and Michael Nurse played what was certainly their final game in Hilton Coliseum Saturday.

Both played admirable supporting roles in Iowa State’s 72-61 win over No. 9 Oklahoma State.

But in what could be Marcus Fizer’s last game in the friendly confines, the junior forward once again took on the starring role and led Iowa State to arguably their biggest regular season win ever.

The junior forward, who will consider making himself eligible for the NBA draft at the conclusion of this season, scored a game-high 29 points in the win.

“I don’t think anybody in the country is playing better than Marcus is right now. He’s a man, and he’s the leader of this team,” Iowa State head coach Larry Eustachy said.

The Cyclones, for the second consecutive game, did not substitute the five starters until the final minute of the game.

Nurse ended with 15 points on five three-pointers, while Johnson and Jamaal Tinsley had 12 points each.

All five starters played at least 36 minutes, with Fizer and Kantrail Horton going the distance.

“I tell people that we must be crazy or something. A sane person wouldn’t be able to do what we’re doing out there. This is the most physical conference in the nation, and we’re out there playing almost the whole game,” Nurse said.

The Cyclones also did a stellar job on Desmond Mason. The athletic forward came into the contest averaging 18.6 points per game, but was held to eight points on 2-11 shooting from the field. Defending him on most occasions was Horton.

“I thought Kantrail was great. Mason is probably the premier post-up guard in the nation, and we worked hard to front him when he was down there. Kantrail was just tough out there,” Eustachy said.

“I knew it was going to be a long night battling him, and I really concentrated all my efforts on the defensive end,” Horton said.

The Cyclones jumped off to an early 12-5 lead, the Cowboys switched to a 1-1-3 zone defense with a defender always employed on the ball.

The defense, which was a variation on what the Cowboys normally do, gave Iowa State some problems.

“It surprised us some, to be honest. It’s probably the best way to play us because whenever Fizer gets the ball, he gets triple-teamed. But we made some three-pointers and stuck with it,” Eustachy said.

Iowa State was able to get a 31-19 lead, but Oklahoma State came back strong with a 10-2 run to close the gap.

At half, the Cyclones had a 37-31 lead, largely due to Nurse and Fizer, who combined for 25.

Similar to Tuesday’s game against Texas, which saw Iowa State score the first seven points of the second half, the Cyclones jumped on Oklahoma State and a 12-2 run propelled them to a 49-33 lead with 16:26 to play.

From that point, the smallest advantage Iowa State enjoyed was 11, the final margin.

Now the Cyclones will head to Texas for a two-game swing that will determine if Iowa State will win their first conference title since 1945.

Wednesday night they will take on Texas Tech in Lubbock, followed by the season finale in Waco against Baylor.

While the combined conference record of the two schools stands at 6-22, Eustachy and the Cyclones will have a tough time escaping the Lonestar State unscathed.

“This isn’t a knock on Oklahoma State, but this was the easiest of our three remaining games. Those two teams are coming on, and it’s always tough to win on the road in the Big 12,” Eustachy said.

“We’ve always taken this season one game at a time, and we know we still have work to do. We still have to go out and win two games on the road to take the title,” Tinsley said.

Fizer said that he’s not worried about the team resting on their laurels yet.

“It’s been a great season, a magical season. But we haven’t won the conference yet. Every team in this conference wants to protect their home floor, so it’s a long way from being over,” Fizer said.

With a win in one of the last two games, Iowa State would clinch a share of the title. But Iowa State clearly has its sights set on winning it outright.

“We understand where we are, we realize how long it’s been since this program has won,” Fizer said.

“We’re not the deepest team, or the tallest, so we just have to be the toughest team in the country. We just have to do what it takes to win.”