Late Saturday afternoon at Hilton Coliseum, the ISU men’s basketball team lived up to their nickname as they stormed out of the locker room and blew their way to a 21-5 lead over Missouri.

And despite the second-half heroics of Missouri sophomore Clarence Gilbert, the Cyclones held on to win 86-81 in the Big 12 opener for both teams.

“This was a great win. This team has made so much progress, I’m really proud of them. We gave up a lot of points, but you have to give Missouri credit, they’re a good team,” ISU coach Larry Eustachy said.

Iowa State (13-2, 1-0) was led by Stevie Johnson, who tied his career high with 20 points while also adding 10 rebounds.

But the real story was Jamaal Tinsley, who recorded the school’s first triple-double since 1989, when Marc Urqhart did the trick.

The amazing ball handler scored 12 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and accumulated 11 assists, many of them in spectacular fashion.

“I though Jamaal was great. He’s made a lot of progress, and he’s way ahead of where I thought he’d be right now. He’s doing well not only on the court, but in the classroom as well,” Eustachy said.

Meanwhile, Gilbert was putting on an exhibition of his own, scoring 19 of his 26 points in the second half, hitting 5 of 8 shots from behind the arc in the process.

“That didn’t surprise me at all. He’s quite a player. He came in here last year and lit us up, so I wasn’t shocked at his performance,” Eustachy said.

After giving up the first basket of the game, Iowa State went on a 21-3 run that included seven points by Marcus Fizer. The leading scorer for Iowa State finished the game with 18 points, all but two of them coming in the game’s initial stanza.

The run also saw Tinsley well on his way to the triple-double he would post, as he collected six points, eight rebounds and four assists in the game’s first 8:26.

“Jamaal is so important to the team. He can score, rebound, and of course he’s a great passer,” Johnson said.

Missouri (7-6, 0-1) fought its way back on the strength of balanced scoring and improved defense.

The Cyclones, however, scored the final four points of the half, including a layup by Johnson at the buzzer, to take a 42-30 lead into intermission.

“I thought after the fast start that maybe we got caught up in the heat of the game and played a lot differently. At half-time, I asked them who they were, because it wasn’t the team that I had been coaching,” Eustachy said.

After the Cyclones took a 49-34 lead with 18:20 left in the game, the Tigers answered with a 9-2 run that brought them within eight, and the rest of the contest was spent with the lead hovering around the double-digit mark.

A key possession occurred when the lead had been cut to six with 3:58 left to play.

After winding the shot clock down, Kantrail Horton, who scored 15 points in playing all 40 minutes, missed a jump shot.

However, Jamaal Tinsley came up with the offensive rebound and the Clones once again ran the clock down. This time, Horton came through with a shot, and ISU’s lead was eight with 2:51 to play.

The Cyclones then hung on to record their 10th victory in a row, tying the team record.

Along with Fizer, Johnson, Tinsley, and Horton, Michael Nurse reached double figures with 11 points, playing 37 minutes despite being sick with the flu.

“That just goes to show you that teams can’t just concentrate on me. We have a lot of guys that can hurt you this year,” Fizer said.

One of them certainly is Johnson, who was 9-12 from field and also had four of his 10 rebounds on the offensive end.

“With Martin out and us having only two post players, somebody needed to step up, and I tried to do that,” Johnson said.

The Cyclones will try for the longest winning streak in the history of the program when they travel to Nebraska on Wednesday night.

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—Cyclone Notes—

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Jamaal Tinsley.

The newcomer recorded the school’s first triple-double in 10 years. With apologies to Stevie Johnson and his team-high 20 points, this one goes to the junior-college point guard from New York.

PLAY OF THE GAME

2nd Half, 5:13 remaining.

Coming off a dead ball, Tinsley lobbed an inbounds pass to Johnson, who tomahawked a monster dunk despite being fouled. When he canned the free throw, ISU was up 10 with time running out.

STAT SHEET

ISU continued its dominance on the boards, outrebounding the Tigers 42-28.

OFF THE BENCH

Paul Shirley was once again solid, providing good minutes when Marcus Fizer was in foul trouble in the second half. He finished with nine points and four rebounds.

NEXT GAME

Iowa State Cyclones (13-2, 1-0) at Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-7, 0-1).

7:00 p.m. Wednesday.

Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, Nebraska.

BROADCASTS

TV- None.

Radio- 1430 KASI, Cyclone Radio Network.

HUSKER UPDATE

With leading returning scorer Cookie Belcher out for the year with an injury, Nebraska is struggling. They are coming off a 97-79 loss to Kansas State. Steffon Bradford led the Huskers in scoring with 19 points.