The Iowa State men’s basketball team evened its conference record at 3-3 with its third consecutive victory Saturday, 70-62 over Texas Tech in front of 11,754 fans at Hilton Coliseum.

“It was an outstanding team that we beat,” head coach Larry Eustachy said. “It was a great win for us, and I’m very proud of our guys.”

Martin Rancik maintained a recent surge, leading all players with 19 points as well as collecting eight rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.

“Martin’s worked hard,” Eustachy said after the win. “He comes in at 6:30 in the morning to practice. He’s in there working with coaches and shooting the ball.”

“I try to work hard on my game and on my shot,” Rancik said. “Finally, today it came together.

“But really, it was a team effort today, and I’m really proud of my teammates.”

Rancik’s breakout game was even sweeter for the sophomore because it came against Red Raider coach James Dickey, a friend and mentor of Rancik’s over the summer.

“I’ve been with him all summer. He’s a helluva coach and a helluva guy,” Rancik said. “It was fun to beat him and Rayford Young.”

Rancik and Young, a Red Raider guard, played for Dickey last summer in Europe as part of a Big 12 travelling squad. Rancik led all players on the team in scoring average.

Cyclone forward Stevie Johnson also played a solid game, collecting only seven points but hauling down a game-high 11 rebounds, dishing four assists and blocking a career-high four shots.

ISU opened the game strong on defense but played erratically on the the offensive end, committing 12 first-half turnovers.

The Cyclones, who never trailed in the game, maintained small leads throughout the half by shooting a blistering .524 from the floor and burying five of six three-point attempts, including the first in Marcus Fizer’s career.

After building a six-point lead near the middle of the half, ISU found itself tied at 26 with under three minutes to go before Rancik hit a three-pointer and a pair of free throws to make the halftime margin five points.

“I was really disappointed with our team at halftime,” Eustachy said. “I don’t know why we’d work so hard all year and all week and come out and play such a poor quality of basketball. I told them that if they wanted to repeat the performance in the second half, they stood no chance.

“I was extremely proud, though, of the way we came out in the second half.”

In the final 20 minutes, the Cyclones’ shooting cooled down a little, though they finished the game a “staggering” eight-for-10 from behind the arc, in the words of Eustachy.

Better ball handling and continued defensive pressure were the difference down the stretch as ISU maintained its lead and actually built it as high as 11 points with three minutes to play.

A late surge would pull the lead back to only five points with under a minute to go, but after Michael Nurse missed a free throw with :36 on the clock, Rancik hauled down the offensive rebound and went up strong.

He made the shot, was fouled and hit his free throw to put the game out of reach.

The Cyclones continued to dominate their opponents on the glass, retrieving 40 boards to the Red Raiders’ 26 on Saturday.

They also shot 30 free throws. Comparatively, the Red Raiders shot their first free throw with 8:38 remaining in the game and only stepped to the line eight times.

“Particularly in the second half, we outrebounded them, we shot more free throws and we guarded them close to 40 percent,” Eustachy said. “That’s our game. It’s our only chance.”

Fizer turned in another excellent performance, scoring 17 and notching 10 rebounds, a block and a steal.

Starting guards Michael Nurse and Rodney Hampton each went two-for-two from three-point range and finished the game with 12 points.

Hampton also hauled down four rebounds, and Nurse dished four assists.

“We got out there and executed our offense and played pretty good defense,” Hampton said. “Their guard play was the strength of their team, and we did a good job containing the penetration.”

Young led Texas Tech, collecting 13 points and five steals in the game. The Red Raiders were without injured starters Stan Bonewitz and Cliff Owens.

ISU will look for only its second conference road win in nearly two years on Wednesday when it travels to Colorado to face the Buffaloes. The first win came last week at Texas A&M.

“The winning streak is something to build on,” Nurse said, “but a winning streak means nothing if we don’t keep winning.”