After a 14-point loss to No. 8 Arizona in the Las Vegas Shootout, the Cyclone men’s basketball team bounced back to pick up impressive home wins against New Orleans, Rice and Southern-New Orleans before entering conference play.

The Iowa State non-conference record of 9-4 was impressive in part for the fact that only one of the four losses came against an unranked opponent.

Since the Southern game, however, head coach Larry Eustachy’s Cyclones have hit rock bottom, dropping their first three Big 12 contests, at home to Oklahoma and on the road at Texas and Kansas.

The Kansas loss, 74-60, marked a slight upswing for the team on Saturday night.

Big underdogs going into the game, ISU hung with Kansas for the first half, never allowing the Jayhawks a lead and entering the break up three.

In what has become a recent trend for the team, though, the Cyclones borrowed a page from their football counterparts and came out flat in the second half.

ISU kept within striking distance for most of the final twenty minutes, eventually falling by 14.

The Cyclones were betrayed by their defense, usually an asset, which allowed Kansas to shoot .560 from the floor in the second half and forced less than half a dozen shots outside of three feet in the final frame.

Power forward Marcus Fizer led the Cyclone scoring with 23 points and Stevie Johnson added 14. Johnson also led the team on the boards, picking up six rebounds in a night where KU led ISU, 36-25.

The loss to Texas three days earlier marked a low-point for Cyclone hoops this year, as the Longhorns powered past the Cyclones, 71-45.

With big bodies like Kris Clack, Chris Mihm and Gabe Muoneke inside, Texas was also able to exploit the Cyclones in the paint, shooting .426 for the game and outrebounding ISU, 42-39.

Fizer provided the only spark for the Cyclones, collecting a game-high nine rebounds and a team-high 14 points, despite sitting out much of the second half with foul trouble.

In their conference opener, ISU disappointed an inspired home crowd with poor shooting and streaky defensive play.

After holding Oklahoma to .176 shooting and only 15 points in the first half, the Cyclones couldn’t maintain their momentum or their pressure in the second twenty minutes.

The Sooners took off on a 20-2 run as the second half opened and ISU was only able to claw back in the closing minutes of play.

Forward Eduardo Najera sparked the comeback with hot shooting and ample emotion as the Sooner lead climbed to as high as 12.

As Oklahoma’s shooting cooled off in the final five minutes, the Cyclones climbed to within three, but an errant Michael Nurse three-pointer and a single Najera free throw gave the Sooners a 56-52 victory.

Before conference play put a damper on Cyclone spirits, the Cardinal and Gold were soaring.

After losing to highly-touted Arizona, 75-61, the Cyclones put up impressive wins of 61-51 (New Orleans), 50-45 (Rice) and 112-43 (Southern-New Orleans).

Marcus Fizer led Cyclone scorers in all four contests, managing 77 points, 37 rebounds, two blocks and five steals.

Nurse had double-digit performances against Arizona (13) and Southern (10), Stevie Johnson posted double-digits against Arizona (12) and Southern (12) and Martin Rancik excelled against New Orleans (10) and Southern (19).

After outrebounding their final four non-conference opponents 175-121, ISU was beaten on the boards by Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma, 111-102.