Iowa State blew a 20-point second-half lead against Kansas State but held on to win 70-65 on Tuesday night at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.

With the win, the suddenly resurgent Cyclones moved closer to the top of the Big 12.

Matt Thomas scored a career-high 25 points, including 20 in the first half on 6 of 8 from three-point range, to lead the Cyclones. He tied his previous career high of 23 with a 3-pointer on the Cyclones' first possession of the second half.

Iowa State (13-6, 5-3 Big 12) also had Naz Mitrou-Long with 13 points and Monte Morris with 12. The Cyclones now stand just two games behind conference-leading Kansas, which lost at West Virginia earlier Tuesday.

Kansas State (15-5, 4-4 Big 12) was led by Wesley Iwundu with 15 points, Kamau Stokes with 12, Xavier Sneed with 11, and D.J. Johnson and Barry Brown with 10 each.

The Wildcats, who lost by nine points to then-No. 1 Baylor on Jan. 14, suffered their other three losses by a combined four points.

With the opening points of the second half, Iowa State grabbed its biggest lead of 20 points. But Kansas State used a 20-3 run to take a 58-57 lead with 5:00 left.

The Cyclones regained the lead for good on their next possession, but the Wildcats trailed by two points with 24 seconds left. The game was not decided until Deonte Burton stole an inbounds pass with a four-point lead with nine seconds left.

Thomas looked like he was playing a game of Around the World early as he hit long-range jumpers from nearly every point behind the arc.

The Cyclones shot 60 percent (9 of 15) from three-point range as a team in the first half when they raced to a 43-26 halftime lead.