Another day, another letdown.

Fortunately for Iowa State, its basketball teams have the talent this season to also make it another day, another win.

Twenty-four hours after the Cyclone women escaped with a 64-61 win over mediocre Kansas State, the men also struggled against mediocre Texas A&M, emerging with a 65-58 victory.

Head coach Larry Eustachy was not, however, as forgiving as women’s head coach Bill Fennelly.

“This is the most disappointed I’ve been to date with this team,” Eustachy said. “It was a very dull performance, and we’re very, very fortunate to win this game.”

Where Fennelly spoke of championship-caliber teams finding ways to win close games, Eustachy scheduled a 6:30 a.m. practice and said, point-blank, “We’re not very good.”

The Cyclones didn’t explode out of the gate, but did meticulously build an 11-point first half lead before watching it evaporate as the opening frame drew to a close.

Very strong first half performances by Stevie Johnson and Jamaal Tinsley were all that kept the Cyclones ahead, sending them to the locker room with a 33-28 edge.

ISU led by five despite being embarrassed on the glass, 17-9, in the first half.

The lack of intensity persisted for most of the final frame, as the Cyclones shot just 40 percent and gave up a half dozen offensive rebounds.

“We got beat in every facet of the game but the score,” Eustachy said. “It’s extremely disappointing, to be honest with you.”

ISU standout Marcus Fizer was triple-teamed for much of the game, but emerged to lead all players with 15 points and six rebounds.

The junior shot just 33 percent on the night, but showed patience and selflessness by dishing four assists to just one turnover.

“If you’ve got three guys around a player, you’re not going to get the ball to Wilt Chamberlin,” Eustachy said. “If Marcus had a problem, it was with his teammates.”

Three of those teammates, Tinsley, Kantrail Horton and Michael Nurse, struggled to overcome the inside pressure with perimeter buckets. The trio shot a combined 9-for-24, including 4-for-12 from beyond the arc.

“It’s good to win, but we played horrible,” Nurse said. “It has nothing to do with who we’re playing – we just have to get our game on the court.”

“We brought this on ourselves,” Tinsley said. “Coach told us they were a young team that wouldn’t give up. Basically, we just didn’t listen. We just took it for granted.”

Horton, the hottest shooter of the bunch, knocked down two of three trey attempts, but passed up a number of open second-half opportunities.

“Kantrail just doesn’t have a lot of confidence right now,” Eustachy said, “which is unfortunate, because he’s a very good player.”

Tinsley overcame a poor shooting performance with another fabulous evening of ballhandling, dishing four exciting assists and making four steals. His only turnover on the night came on a pass inside that Fizer mishandled.

In the second half, the Cyclones were again able to build a double-digit lead, only to again watch it disappear. The Aggies actually took the lead, 54-53, with just 3:31 to play.

A quick 10-0 run, however, put A&M away for good.

Horton knocked down an open three-pointer, and Fizer scored four straight to reclaim the lead and provide a small cushion for the waning moments.

After the game, Eustachy was most concerned with his team’s lack of intensity and dismal 35-24 performance on the boards.

“I don’t know when we’ve been out-rebounded by nine,” Eustachy said. “That’s all determination.”

“We didn’t contest shots, we didn’t block out, we didn’t put the ball in the hoop, and we didn’t play good defense,” Tinsley said.

Referring both to the frustrating game they’d just played and the upcoming practice, Fizer was also disgusted with the team’s rebounding.

“If we don’t rebound the way we’re supposed to, there’s always going to be penalties,” he said.

Eustachy also cringed at the thought of looking ahead to Kansas.

“Maybe we shouldn’t even play Kansas on Saturday,” he said. “It may be the most lopsided score since Hilton was built.”