The Iowa State basketball team came up with a much-needed, hard-fought 60-51 win over the Colorado Buffaloes in Big 12 play Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum.

“I thought it was a good win, our best one yet. This team just keeps getting tougher. This team is the best it’s been right now, even with only eight guys,” coach Larry Eustachy said.

Stevie Johnson and Marcus Fizer combined for 32 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Cyclone charge, while Martin Rancik finished with 11.

The game, which was the first Cyclone Big 12 win since February 18, 1998, began with the Cyclones jumping out to leads of 5-0 and 11-6

The Buffs charged back into the game, however, going on a 9-3 run to tie the game at 19 with just under nine minutes remaining in the half.

The rest of the first half was a defensive struggle, and ISU came out of the stanza with a 31-28 lead.

Johnson, with 10 points, and Fizer with nine led the Cyclones at the break, but Eustachy was not pleased with all aspects of the half.

“We didn’t have any offensive rebounds in the first half, and I challenged the guys at halftime to be tougher, and I think they responded well,” Eustachy said.

After a beginning surge by the Cyclones, Colorado responded by tying the game on several occasions, and taking their first lead at 43-42 with 8:33 left in the game.

It was then that Michael Nurse, who has made several key baskets throughout the year, nailed a three-pointer to put the Cyclones back into the lead, which they would not relinquish.

After Will Smith, who led the Buffs with 17 points, hit one of two free throws with 4:23 left, the ISU lead was cut to one at 49-48.

The Cyclones responded by getting a Klay Edwards jump hook and a put-back basket by Fizer to push the lead to five with 3:21 left.

The rest of the way was highlighted by the inspired play of Johnson, who made some key free throws down the stretch. He also provided the exclamation point to the by getting a steal and dunk with a minute left that extended their lead to eight.

Johnson ended up with 15 points, nine rebounds, and three steals in his second solid game in a row.

“This was Stevie’s kind of game. They pressed, and that allowed us to get it more into the open floor, and that’s where he shines,” Eustachy said.

Johnson took Eustachy’s plea for offensive rebounds to heart.

“I can’t really repeat what Coach said exactly, but he just wanted us to be more aggressive, and we just went out and got it in the second half,” Johnson, who finished with three offensive boards, said.

The Cyclones’ defense was once again suffocating, as they held the high-powered Colorado offense to 31 percent shooting in the second half, and just 35 percent for the game.

They also held the explosive Tyron Manlove, who entered the game averaging 17 points per game, to five points on two of nine shooting.

The Cyclones will now go back on the road to face Texas A&M on Saturday night.