The tone of Monday night’s game between Oklahoma State and Iowa State was set in the game’s first seven seconds when Adrian Peterson netted a three-pointer from the left side.

On the strength of 11 three-point field goals the Cowboys continued to dominate the Cyclones, winning 81-66.

With the victory, OSU (17-4, 7-4) has now won 10 of the last 11 meetings between the two schools. The Cowboys have claimed three victories on Cyclone turf in their last four trips to Ames.

ISU entered the game allowing a league-low 64.2 points per game but couldn’t stop the long-range guns of the Cowboys, who drilled 7 of 11 triples in the first half.

The Cyclones never led and only managed to tie the game twice during the entire contest, the last being at 10-10 on a Stevie Johnson jumper. But Oklahoma State answered by scoring 10 of the next 11 points to take a 21-11 lead as well as control of the game.

The Cowboys kept their lead at or above seven points the rest of the half, and led 43-29 at intermission, thanks in part to 59 percent shooting from the floor.

ISU never seriously threatened Oklahoma State in the second half, and a late Cyclone run was not enough to get the spread into single-digits.

Four Cowboys scored in double-figures, with Desmond Mason’s 18 paving the way. Peterson poured in 17 and hauled down 10 rebounds, while Brett Robisch and Joe Adkins each popped in 15.

“Oklahoma State did a terrific job with their perimeter players tonight,” Floyd said. “They were much more efficient at the 1-2-3 spots than we were. We didn’t have an answer guarding their guys on the perimeter from the three-point line.”

Floyd is now 2-8 against Oklahoma State in his career, and 1-8 against Cowboy head man Eddie Sutton.

He said his team hung around well on the boards and also played relatively error-free, committing only 10 turnovers.

Floyd said he was not down on the 10,210 relatively subdued Cyclone backers, many of whom were heading to the exits with time remaining on the clock.

“No, I’m not disappointed in them at all. They were much better than we were,” Floyd said.

The loss for ISU (10-14, 3-8) was its sixth in seven games. The Cyclones were led by Klay Edwards with 16 points and Marcus Fizer’s 15.

Sophomore Paul Shirley tied Fizer with a team-high seven boards but was held to three points. He said he was impressed by Oklahoma State.

“They’re really solid,” Shirley said. “Their team is very balanced. They’re definitely one of the better teams played, without question.”

Shirley said the team has the potential to break out of the slump by “remembering what gets you to the wins to begin with.”

As with any Floyd team, that starts with defense. Floyd said the last four games has been the worst stretch of defense his team has played since he arrived at ISU. The Cyclones have given up an average of 75 points per contest in the last five.

With five conference games and the Big 12 Tournament remaining on the slate, Floyd is in danger of suffering the first losing record in his career. His previous worst season was his first as a college coach, a 16-14 record at Idaho.

The Cyclones’ current winning percentage is .416, the lowest since former Coach Johnny Orr’s 1990-91 squad finished 12-19.

Despite the recent adversity, Shirley remains optimistic.

“You can look just two years ago when Iowa State wasn’t spectacular in the regular season, but then they ended up winning the Big Eight Tournament,” he said. “You never really know what’s going to happen in this league. I think eventually we’ll turn it around.”

The Cyclones look to break their four-game slide at home Saturday afternoon against Colorado. The Buffaloes handily defeated ISU last weekend in Boulder 70-52.

“We just kind of have to use that as motivation and come back and prepare hard,” Shirley said.