With the season on the line, Iowa State lost on the first day of the Big 12 Tournament to Oklahoma State 72-71.

This was the third meeting between the two teams, with the two splitting the first couple meetings. The Cowboys took the third matchup to survive and advance to Thursday.

Oklahoma State was leading by two at halftime with a 34-32 lead after a solid offensive performance for half the period and sloppy play in the waning minutes.

The Cyclones were led by seniors Prentiss Nixon and Michael Jacobson and freshman Tre Jackson. Nixon had nine points on 4-7 shooting with three rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Jacobson had six points on 3-7 shooting and also added four rebounds while Jackson had six points as well on 2-5 shooting and two rebounds.

Jackson also gave away four turnovers leading to a couple easy buckets for Oklahoma State.

The second half seemed to be going right for the Cyclones as they rode on the back of Nixon to a sizable lead. A 15-2 run where Nixon made four straight baskets gave the Cyclones a 47-38 lead with over 15 minutes left in the half.

Nixon was filling in as the primary ballhandler behind sophomore Rasir Bolton when Bolton was ruled out for his second straight game in concussion protocol.

The senior almost helped fight off his last game for at least one more day with a red-hot second half.

Nixon was on fire in the second half with 16 points on 7-14 shooting including 2-6 from three.

Despite the onslaught, Oklahoma State kept it close and cut the lead to one multiple times toward the conclusion of the game. Iowa State was on the ropes, but a dunk from junior Terrence Lewis with eight seconds left gave Iowa State a 71-70 advantage.

Isaac Likekele dribbled the length of the floor in five seconds to give Oklahoma State a 72-71 lead and Iowa State couldn’t score to take the lead back, giving the Cowboys a 72-71 win.

Likekele led the Cowboys in scoring with 21 points and was instrumental down the stretch, leading the charge in the comeback effort. He also added nine assists and five rebounds.

Iowa State’s season ended on Wednesday in the loss.