AMES — Movies can get predictable at times. 

Sometimes you know when the monsters are going to jump out, or that the romantic comedy is always going to end happily. 

Iowa State proved that movies don’t always have to end the same. Sometimes, the home team can withstand a comeback attempt from the opposition.

The Cyclones’ last game in Hilton Coliseum, a loss to Kansas State in overtime on Feb. 12, appeared to be a horror movie for Cyclone fans to sit and watch as Iowa State watched their lead dwindle and eventually dissipate.

They led by 15 early in the second half, and ended up losing in overtime by six.

Oklahoma also fell victim to the storybook first half for the Cyclones at home, as the Sooners found themselves down 15 at halftime. Once again, the visitors were able to get their footing and get back into the game. Oklahoma trailed by just five with 9:59 remaining.

This time, the Cyclones kept the monsters in the closet.

Iowa State used a 21-4 run over the next eight minutes, including a 15-0 onslaught over three minutes, to bury the Sooners once and for all. Oklahoma had to watch their demise play out with little to do as a counter.

The Sooners had just one timeout in their pocket that they refused to use, and no relief came until the Cyclone lead was 22 with 1:58 remaining.

Izaiah Brockington, who had another stellar game with 22 points on an efficient 10-13 shooting, talked after the loss to the Wildcats about being unable to put the game away, and go up by double digits to keep Kansas State at bay.

Needless to say, he was pleased with how his team eventually responded.

“It did feel a little bit like we were losing a little bit of focus,” Brockington said. “But I feel like we’ve learned from previous games, and we just have to cut it off right there and not let problems compound.”

The first half was one of the Cyclones’ most complete of the Big 12 season. They scored 40 points on 75 percent shooting and made four of their five attempts from deep. On defense, they gave up just 25 points and forced nine Sooner giveaways, which they turned into a 17-3 advantage in points off turnovers.

Iowa State had an 18-4 advantage in points in the paint through the first 20 minutes and were getting good looks at the rim as a result of their consistent aggression on offense.

As for the second half, the first 10 minutes had the makings of another Cyclone collapse. They made one of their first five three-point attempts, and had some slippages on both ends of the floor that allowed Oklahoma to put themselves back in contention.

But from the 10-minute mark until the final buzzer, it was a Cyclone flurry of points backed up with a renewed intensity on defense that eventually led to what became a blowout victory.

T.J. Otzelberger was asked how aware his team was of the potential repeat of their last game in Hilton Coliseum. His answer?

“Very aware.”

“We wanted to make sure that we continued to stay on the next possession,” Otzelberger said. “We were very mindful of that and we’re going to continue to be very mindful of that, because when we have our focus on getting that next stop and winning that next possession, we can be really good, so that’s where we’re going to stay.”

Still, with all of the stops and all of the scores seemed to bring with it a renewed sense of belief from the Hilton Coliseum crowd, as the Cyclones now have sole possession of eighth place in the Big 12 conference with four regular season games remaining.

Add onto that the offensive flow and rhythm found from developing a presence in the paint, and things may be looking up for the Cyclones after a 3-9 start to Big 12 play.

For Otzelberger, however, he’s more focused on a day at a time, and isn’t getting too excited over a second consecutive win.

“It’s a win. We want to win every night out, we’re not caught up in anything beyond winning today,” Otzelberger said. 

“We won today instead of losing and that’s what we set out to do, now we’ll get on to the next one.”

The next one will be West Virginia being welcomed to Hilton Coliseum Wednesday, as the Cyclones will try to put together their longest winning streak since Big 12 play began.