“That’s something in the hands of someone else,” Capel said. “We want to do everything we can to try to continue our season right now.

“When we get to the point our conference tournameot is over with or if we lose, then we will start thinking about that. But right now I’m not sure.”

Iowa State shot 7-for-22 from 3-point range and broke the school’s season record for 3s on Johnson’s make in final minute. The Cyclones ended up with 203 3-pointers — two more than they had last season.

Johnson and Jiri Hubalek, the Cyclones’ second- and third-leading scorers, helped lead the second-half comeback after being held scoreless in the first half. The duo scored Iowa State’s first six points after halftime, and then contributed to a 10-0 run that got the Cyclones back within 42-39 on Johnson’s layup off a baseline inbounds pass.

Each one picked up his fourth foul within a 47-second span, with Hubalek following Johnson to the bench with 9:23 to play, but the Cyclones kept coming.

Jessan Gray, who replaced Hubalek, had a two-handed dunk to keep the rally going, and Corey McIntosh put Iowa State ahead 56-55 on a driving layup wi 5/8h 4:38 remaining — setting off cheers from two noisy sections filled with Cyclones fans behind the Iowa State bench.

It was the only time Iowa State would lead the entire game.

“We never gave up. We never thought that we was out of the game,” Taylor said. “I was telling the guys that it is not over until the horn sounds.”

After taking the lead, Iowa State missed its next three shots before Godbold’s steal from Taylor.

“It was the story of our season, this game that we played today,” Taylor said. “There was a lot of ups and downs in the first half but we put ourself in position to win.

“We had a couple of good looks at the basket. It just didn’t fall.”

Crocker, starting in place of the ill Michael Neal, scored the first five points of the game as Oklahoma opened an early 9-2 lead. Iowa State spent much of the rest of the half trying to close the gap, getting within one point twice before the Sooners pulled away with a 9-0 run made up entirely of free throws to go up 27-17.

Bobby Maze’s 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer pushed the edge to 35-23, and his basket after the break pushed the lead to its highest point at 14.

“We knew they were going to make a run,” Carter said. “We just had to clamp down on defense. It was just how well we were going to respond, and we responded well.”