KANSAS CITY, Missouri — The Cyclones were as close to rock bottom as they could get.  

Coming off two straight losses — one to Vanderbilt on the road and another to West Virginia at Hilton Coliseum — Iowa State was flailing. It sat at 4-4 in the Big 12 and 13-8 overall. There was a road game against Kansas coming up, a game that almost never results in a victory. Coach Steve Prohm even admitted he had doubts about the NCAA Tournament. 

The coaching staff gathered in the Sukup Basketball Complex after the West Virginia loss. The team needed a change, and Prohm challenged the seniors and the rest of the team to step up. 

“We were trying to find out how we can get this thing right,” Prohm said.

What followed next was nothing short of incredible. 

The Cyclones upset Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse — a place where the road team nearly never wins. Then they won seven of their next nine games. Then they rattled off two wins in the Big 12 Championship to move into the final. 

Now the coaching staff is laughing at that late-season meeting. 

No. 4 Iowa State (23-10, 12-6 Big 12) beat No. 2 West Virginia (26-8, 12-6 Big 12) in the Big 12 Championship final on Saturday night at the Sprint Center to claim the team’s third tournament title in four years.

It capped off a four-year stretch where the Cyclones went 9-1 in tournament games.

“These moments, they are hard to come by,” Prohm said amid the confetti and “Sweet Caroline” during the post-game celebration on the court. “Only so many people get to share this moment. We’re champions forever. We’ll always have that bond.”

Iowa State looked almost nothing like the team that fell by double digits to West Virginia on Jan. 31, the worse home loss in four years. The Cyclones ran through the tournament, beating Oklahoma State by nine, TCU by 21 and West Virginia — a team that swept Iowa State in the season — by six. 

Iowa State shot 54.7 percent from the field in the tournament. Its defense looked as good as it has all season. Senior point guard Monte Morris won the tournament’s most outstanding player award. Seniors Deonte Burton, Matt Thomas and Morris were named to the all-tournament team. 

The Big 12 tournament crown wasn’t just another notch to the team’s ever-growing national profile this season. It was a statement that the Cyclones are completely changed. 

“We wanted redemption,” said senior Naz Mitrou-Long, who is 9-0 in Big 12 Championship games he’s played in. “We made a statement today winning the game like we did by the amount we did. I bet the world isn’t sleeping on us no more.”

During the post-game celebration, Mitrou-Long gathered the team. He talked about Iowa State’s underdog status this season. He talked about the team’s brotherhood, especially among the four starting seniors.

But at the end, he turned to his teammates. 

“This isn’t luck. It’s destiny,” Mitrou-Long screamed.  

Iowa State will try and continue to chase that destiny and flip the script on its season that looked dead in the water just two and a half months ago.

Next up: the national stage at the NCAA Tournament. 

“[This win] lets people know that Iowa State is real,” Prohm said. “We’ve had a great run and we’re going to continue to push that.”