Since Big 12 play began, the ISU men’s basketball team’s free-throw shooting has ironically been the costliest aspect of its game. 

The Cyclones own a collective 65.4 percent mark from the foul stripe through 14 conference games and for the first time at Texas, an opponent actively and specifically attempted to turn one of the their most notable faults against them.

No. 14 Iowa State (20-6, 10-4 Big 12) attempted 33 free throws on the afternoon, including 24 in the final four minutes of play, on its way to defeating Texas (17-10, 6-8 Big 12) 85-77 on Feb. 21. The victory completed the Cyclones’ season sweep of the Longhorns and counted as the second ISU road win in as many games.

The “hack-a-Cyclone” strategy employed by the Longhorns is typically a ploy aimed at one player and was popularized in the late ’90s and early 2000s as a way to deal with dominant physical performers in the NBA, like Shaquille O’Neal, who had few other weaknesses to exploit.

From that perspective, the tactic could be viewed as a sign of respect, ceding that Iowa State was too potent of a squad to defeat by normal means.

However, it was clearly a lack of respect for the ISU foul shooters that prompted the move. For a time, it appeared that employing a trap and foul approach — taking gambles at forcing turnovers and fouling when they weren’t committed — might bring Texas all the way back. The Longhorns trailed by 10 points when the barrage of fouls began, but with 60 seconds to play, that lead had been slashed to only four.

“You know it is as stressful as hell for me, I’ll tell you that,” said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg. “I mean that is a long three minutes. And I think we shot 24 free throws in the last three minutes. We give Rick Barnes credit and his strategy brought them all back.”

The deficit Barnes was trying to erase was amassed everywhere but the foul line as the Cyclones began the game 3-of-9 from the stripe — holding true to their conference average — but finished the game on an 18-of-24 stretch.

Senior Bryce Dejean-Jones, sent to the bench five games previous to function in the role of sixth man, shouldered a large portion of the free-throw burden, making 5-of-8 foul shots in 27 minutes off of the bench on his way to a 16-point performance.

Dejean-Jones said that the drama was still thick and the pressure was even increased, despite a UT strategy that ground the game to a near halt, resulting in the final three minutes of the contest requiring nearly 30 minutes of real time to complete.

“It is just tough trying to make sure you don’t turn the ball over, give them easy baskets and just knocking out free throws the whole way,” Dejean-Jones said. “I think we did a great job today.”

The first 36 minutes of the game seemed almost a different contest, considering the actual time lapse of the game’s final moments. Yet in those initial 36 minutes, it was the 3-point line and the ISU bench that served as the areas of note, and which formed the afternoon’s narrative. Iowa State shot 12-of-21 from the 3-point line as a team, burying a trey seemingly every time Texas closed in on the lead.

Despite Dejean-Jones’ effort, it was the much maligned Matt Thomas who led the Cyclones off the pine and from behind the arc. Thomas scored a career-high 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from deep.

The sophomore, utilized almost exclusively as a sharp-shooter, has struggled with his stroke all season. He entered the contest against Texas shooting below 30 percent from long range and hadn’t scored in double figures since Iowa State fell at Texas Tech on Jan. 24.

“Hard work always pays off,” Thomas said. “Sometimes it takes longer than you want, but hard work pays off, so I’m just going to continue to work and hope for the same success.”

Not only Thomas’ hard work but that of the entire team has paid dividends during the past week, as Iowa State won consecutive conference road games for the first time since 2006.

Hoiberg said that mentally and in terms of attitude, his team is turning an important corner at just the right time.

“We have a couple of really good learning experiences on the road and I give our guys a lot of credit for fighting through the tough times, which I thought we struggled a little bit with, especially at Oklahoma and the game at Kansas,” Hoiberg said. “It is just finding a way to handle adversity better.”