Iowa State capitalized on a 19-0 run at the start of the second half Saturday to bury a visiting Colorado 80-63.

The much-needed victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the Cyclones and improved their record to 11-14 overall and 4-8 in the Big 12.

“We feel like we won the national championship,” Coach Tim Floyd said after the game. “It is a great win for our guys. They needed something like that in the worst way.”

ISU’s run was fueled by a half-court three-pointer by Paris Corner at the closing of the first half.

The Cyclones trailed Colorado 37-34 with four seconds left in the half when Buffalo guard Marlon Hughes threw the ball out of bounds. ISU inbounded to Corner, who launched the shot just as the buzzer sounded.

“There is something to making a big play at the end of a half,” Floyd said. “I really felt like we had a chance at halftime based on that one play.”

Point guard Lee Love, who guided the Cylones on the floor nearly the entire game, agreed with Floyd.

“[Corner’s shot] gave us a lift and made a big difference,” Love said.

The Cyclones were led once again by freshman Marcus Fizer, who had 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.

Stevie Johnson and Paul Shirley added 13 points each, while guards Brad Johnson, Love and Corner turned in eight, seven and six, respectively.

“We knew there was something missing last game, and Coach Floyd told us it was the intensity level,” Fizer said. “We just guarded them a lot harder. They made a lot of turnovers, and we capitalized on them.”

Floyd compared the game to ISU’s 72-50 loss a week before at Colorado, where the Cyclones held the Buffaloes scoreless for the first eight minutes of the second half.

“Except that we missed every shot [at Colorado],” Floyd said. “The difference in the game was our defense. Marcus Fizer played the best defensive game of his career.”

Floyd and his squad also gave credit to the 10,346 fans who packed Hilton Coliseum until the final seconds of the game.

“We love Hilton Magic,” Fizer said. “We love the fans and we thank God we have them. They really get the adrenaline going.”

Floyd said, “It seemed like the louder they got, the harder we guarded the first eight minutes of the second half.”

Colorado was led by guard Kenny Price, who nailed four three-pointers and scored 14 points in the game. Charlie Melvin, the senior center who scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds last weekend at Colorado, was held to only two points and six rebounds.

“Paul [Shirley] and Klay [Edwards] did just a tremendous job on him all afternoon,” Floyd said.

ISU also saw an immense improvement in ball control against the Buffaloes. The Cyclones entered the game having turned over the ball 107 more times than their opponents, but had only 10 to Colorado’s 17 on Saturday.

“We knew we were going to get some turnovers with the defense we were playing,” Love said. “We wanted to extend and wanted to push the ball out and get some easy layups. We hadn’t scored 80 points this season because we weren’t getting easy baskets.”

Some of ISU’s backcourt success could be attributed to Corner, who had played in only 12 games this season. Corner played most of his 14 minutes Saturday at the off-guard position, normally split between Johnson and junior Jerry Curry.

“I think playing [Corner] at the off-guard spot allowed him to relax a little bit,” Floyd said.

Curry was the only Cyclone who did not play Saturday. Walk-on and fan favorite Jason Teeter played his first minutes of the season, missing his only attempt

Stevie Johnson, who dazzled fans with his dunk in the final minutes of the game, said the team played with the most intensity he has seen all season.

“We just wanted to give our fans something to cheer about,” Johnson said. “We needed a win real bad.”