KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There’s no doubt Iowa State’s core group of starters gave Iowa State enough big-time performances to keep afloat in a daunting Big 12 tournament.

If it weren’t for Monté Morris’ buzzer-beating fadeaway jumper, the Cyclones may have never seen a second game in the tournament. If it weren’t for Georges Niang’s double-digit efforts in all three games, earning him Most Outstanding Player honors on the Big 12 All-Championship Team, the Cyclones likely aren’t hoisting a championship trophy.

There were differences between last year’s Big 12 tournament championship run and this one. For starters, Iowa State’s path got increasingly more difficult in 2015, taking on a talented Texas team, a top-15 Oklahoma team and 11-time reigning Big 12 champion, Kansas. Added to the gauntlet was the target pinned to the Cyclones’ backs — not only as reigning tournament champions, but with revenge on the minds of the three opponents the Cyclones faced.

But this team won this tournament differently. While the ISU stars played their part to perfection, it was the bench that defined what the team was able to accomplish.

“Our bench was awesome,” said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg. “Georges only played 36 minutes tonight, so we got him quite a bit of rest. But we knew we needed those guys to come in and give us great minutes.”

In fact, the game-defining run came at the hands of bench stars Bryce Dejean-Jones and Abdel Nader.

Down by two points with eight minutes to play, Dejean-Jones stole the ball, flew down the court in transition and slammed it home to tie the game.

On the next possession, Abdel Nader blocked Perry Ellis’ shot, got into the offensive set and used his size to drive in for a layup. Next trip down defensively, Nader toyed with Ellis, getting tangled before Ellis was called for traveling.

Then Dejean-Jones drove to the lane for two more points. Kansas went on to hit one free throw before Nader weaved through the defense again to score in the paint to give Iowa State a 59-52 lead.

“I thought Bryce Dejean-Jones’ steal and dunk when he got fouled might have been the play of the game and kind of got the momentum going for us when he tied the score,” Hoiberg said.

Against Oklahoma, Dejean-Jones and Nader combined for 17 points, keeping the offense rolling and recording four steals to help shift the momentum defensively. It’s a combination that has been used efficiently by Hoiberg this season, but didn’t exist last season.

Iowa State had a fairly strict seven-man rotation last season, relying heavily on the starters to do the work. That was never more evident than in the Sweet 16, when the Cyclones couldn’t quite climb past Connecticut without Niang in the lineup. With four players finishing with three or more fouls, Hoiberg had to dig deep into his roster to put bodies on the floor, giving rarely-used Percy Gibson playing time.

But this year, the team plays eight deep and isn’t afraid to use the talents of Clayton Custer or Daniel Edozie when needed. And from a talent standpoint, it would be tough to argue the 2014 duo of Naz Long and Matt Thomas did more than 2015’s trio of Dejean-Jones, Nader and Thomas.

Maybe people should start listening to Hoiberg, who noted how important the bench would be coming into the tournament.

“All three of those guys have very important roles to come off [the bench] and try to keep momentum if we play well. If we get out to a bit of a slow start, they’ve got to go in and get us going,” Hoiberg said.

And the trio did just that. With March Madness approaching and hopes of a Final Four run in the team’s mind, the Big 12 tournament proved the team has the will to win in comeback victories, and more importantly, the stamina to keep up in tournament-style play.

“We’re a gritty group that’s never going to give up,” Niang said. “We got a ton of guys that have a lot of heart on this team. I’ll go to battle with them any day.”