Earlier this season, coach Larry Eustachy referred to his beleaguered squad as the “elite eight.”

Last night, the Cyclones somehow came up with their 13th win of the year playing only six men in the second half.

They did this playing the hottest team in the conference, the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Nebraska had won five in a row, and were coming off a 16-point shellacking of the Kansas Jayhawks.

Iowa State, meanwhile, was reeling after losing to Colorado by 20.

This did not seem to be the Cyclones’ day in the first half. They shot only 38 percent while allowing the Huskers to hit on 56 percent of their shots.

Star forward Marcus Fizer had sat out the last 11 minutes of the half because Eustachy was not happy with his effort.

And Venson Hamilton, among the Big 12’s leaders in scoring and rebounding, dominated the first half, scoring 10 points and grabbing three rebounds in 15 minutes of play.

Whatever Eustachy said at half-time, it worked.

The Cyclones came out in the second half with Fizer, Stevie Johnson, Martin Rancik, Michael Nurse, and Rodney Hampton.

Eustachy only subbed in Klay Edwards for Rancik, as the two split time equally in the second half.

The other four played all twenty minutes, and the Cyclones gutted out their biggest win of the year, and biggest since knocking off Cincinnati in the NCAA tournament two years ago.

The amazing thing about beating what may be the best team of the conference is not that they did it with only six players.

It’s who the six players were that made the win so unexpected.

An examination of personnel is necessary to prove my point.

Marcus Fizer is a legitimate all-Big 12 player. He is a strong presence on the offensive end, he rebounds well, and his rapidly improving defense was proven when he held Hamilton to two second-half points.

Stevie Johnson has been coming on as of late but has yet to fulfill the expectations that he faced as a highly-recruited freshman.

Martin Rancik has shown the ability to be an all-conference player like Fizer but has yet to show the consistence needed to accord the honor.

Rodney Hampton is a solid player but has trouble penetrating and is sometimes reluctant to shoot the ball.

Michael Nurse may be the most confident player we’ve seen since Dedric Willoughby but often has not been the distributor that led coaches to compare him to Tim Hardaway.

Klay Edwards has seen a marked decline in production this year and although he provides a solid defensive presence has not been much of a factor this year.

So, the question begs: How did they do it?

The answer is one that should make every Cyclone fan beam with pride: with hard work, defense, and clutch shots.

Hampton is a relentless on-the-ball defender who rarely lets his opponent gets an open shot.

Nurse also is solid while all the frontcourt works hard on the defensive end.

This team doesn’t allow the fewest points in the conference for nothing.

Johnson is quickly becoming a fan favorite by throwing his body around relentlessly, getting steals and grabbing offensive rebounds.

As far as the clutch shots go, just about everyone has hit these this year.

Nurse won the game against Western Illinois, and his backcourt mate Hampton had a huge hand in this one. Fizer also has hit some big shots, and even Edwards has won a few games, including the aforementioned Cincinnati games, with clutch shots.

This Cyclone team may not be the most talented we’ve seen. And yes, they struggle on the road. Some of them even punch fast-food employees and pee on the sidewalk.

But there is something about this team that I’m starting to like.

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Josh Flickinger is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Rockford, Ill., and he loves the Dave Matthews Band.