By Wendell Barnhouse
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
AUSTIN, Texas – This is not the time, with March just days away, to accept the status quo. Running in place usually means you’re running on empty.
Over the last four days, No. 14 Iowa State has returned from two Big 12 Conference road trips with a full tank. The Cyclones followed up Wednesday’s victory at Oklahoma State with an 85-77 victory at Texas Saturday. With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Iowa State (20-6, 10-4) remains one game behind first-place Kansas.
“After Wednesday I asked them if they were satisfied and they said no,” Cyclones coach Fred Hoiberg said after his team had doubled its total of Big 12 road victories.
Not only was Iowa State's victory important in this year's Big 12 race, it had historical significance. The Cyclones had lost its last six games here and had not won back-to-back Big 12 games since 2006.
“I think this showed how tough this team has, how much grit it has,” Matt Thomas said. “We talked about it this week that after we got that one road win, we needed to get another.”
Thomas, a sophomore averaging 4.7 points, came off the bench to score a career-high 17 points. Iowa State has six players averaging double figures but Jameel McKay, coming off a career night against the Cowboys (17 points and 14 rebounds), scored all three of his points from the foul line. Thomas more than compensated. He hit 4-of-6 3-pointers as the Cyclones went 12-of-21 from behind the arc.
Iowa State took control in the second half with three mini-runs – a 6-0 and a 5-0 spurt in the first six minutes and then a 12-5 spurt that pushed the Cyclones’ lead to a 67-55 lead with 4:23 remaining.
"We've had a couple of good learning experiences on the road," Hoiberg said. "I give our guys a lot of credit for fighting through the tough times, finding a way to handle adversity better. On the road, you splinter a little bit. At home, we can afford to do that, because the 15,000 (fans) behind you are going to bring you back together. On the road, we're all we've got."
Thomas and Georges Niang, who scored 14 of his 17 in the second half, topped the five Iowa State players in double figures. The Cyclones’ forays to the basket were limited and timely; Texas blocked just two shots.
The final 3:06 minutes required 22 minutes and 22 seconds of real-life time. Kendal Yancy and Isaiah Taylor scored 18 points to keep Texas’ faint hopes alive and the Longhorns fouled on 11 of 12 possessions. Iowa State made 18-of-24 free throws over the final 3:22.
Yancy had a career-high 29 for the Longhorns (17-10, 6-8) while Taylor played 40 minutes and finished with a hard-earned 23.
“We need everybody, it’s the time of year when older guys have to play well,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “It can’t just fall on Isaiah; he took 18 shots. Guys need to want the ball. We’ve been searching for consistency all season. We need to know from night to night what we’re getting from guys.”
Senior Jonathan Holmes and junior Jevan Felix were a combined 2-of-14 from the field. Both recently missed games because of concussions. Being two games under .500 in Big 12 play has folks mentioning the “b” word – the bubble.
Asked what’s wrong, Holmes had a simple but telling answer: “I don’t know.”
Barnes cautioned that talk about the NCAA Tournament “bubble” is premature, that there are 100 teams on the bubble.
"We just have to find way," Yancy said. "We'll figure it out. We ain't got time to be feeling sorry for ourselves."
Late in the first half, the fortunes of both teams were illustrated on three consecutive shots. Felix and Connor Lammert each had 3-pointers on the same possession that spun around the rim but stayed out. That prevented expansion of a 31-28 lead. On the other end, Iowa State’s Monte’ Morris’ jumper did a 720 around the rim before spinning through.
That shot was part of an 8-0 run that gave the visitors a 35-31 halftime lead. The Longhorns turned it over on four of their last six possessions to help Iowa State flip a four-point deficit.
“We’re good but we can’t keep beating ourselves,” said Barnes, whose team’s next game will be Tuesday against a surging West Virginia team. “We had 12 turnovers in the first half, we had a couple of air balls, empty possessions. At halftime we were down four but we spent so much energy and emotion hanging on. It just wears on you.”