Ames, Iowa ? Curtis Stinson made it sound so simple. He was open. He took the shot. He hit it.

And what a shot it was for Iowa State.

Stinson scored 30 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 18.6 seconds left Monday night, lifting the Cyclones to an 81-79 victory over No. 19 Virginia.

“We’ve got people on this team that we know can take big shots,” Stinson said. “I felt like I could take that shot. I did and it went in.”

It was the biggest basket in an entertaining, back-and-forth game that had sparkling performances on both sides.

Virginia’s Devin Smith scored a career-high 40 points, and Iowa State (4-1) wasn’t assured of winning until the Cavaliers (6-1) missed three shots in a wild flurry just before the buzzer.

Less than a week after Iowa State lost by 17 points at Northern Iowa, the Cyclones put together their best effort of the season.

“I thought the game was an NCAA Tournament-level game,” Iowa State coach Wayne Morgan said. “It was almost like instead of being in December, you were in March. We’re just really happy to be a part of it, just overjoyed to have won the game.”

Virginia came from 11 points down to take a 79-77 lead when Gary Forbes drove for a basket with 27 seconds left. But Iowa State quickly got the ball to Stinson, who came around a screen on the left wing and made his fifth three-pointer to put the Cyclones up 80-79.

“I just think he has a tremendous amount of confidence in himself,” Morgan said. “I just think he has a huge, huge heart. He’s got the heart of a great white shark.”

Iowa State's Curtis Stinson, right, celebrates with teammate Will Blalock during the second half against Virginia. The Cyclones won, 81-79, Monday in Ames, Iowa.

Seconds after Stinson’s shot, Iowa State’s Jared Homan batted away a pass into the lane, teammate Will Blalock scooped up the ball and was fouled as he took off for the other end. Blalock made one free throw, giving the Cavaliers a final chance.

Virginia coach Pete Gillen had called his last timeout with 8:10 left, so his players had to improvise. Sean Singletary drove for a layup from the right side and saw the ball fall off the rim. The Cavaliers then missed two tip-ins and Iowa State had the victory, improving to 21-1 at home under Morgan, who’s in his second season.

“We just wanted to drive and attack the basket,” Gillen said. “He got a pretty good look, we got a couple of tips. It just didn’t fall.”

Stinson finished 5-for-6 from three-point range and 10-for-19 overall. He also had six assists, three steals and a block. Homan scored 14 points, while Blalock and Robert Faulkner each had 10.

A key for Iowa State was keeping Smith under wraps down the stretch, mainly with a box-and-one. Smith got his last points on a putback with 6:08 remaining.

“If we didn’t do that, he might have had 60,” Morgan said.

No. 1 Illinois 78, Chicago State 59

Champaign, Ill. — Luther Head scored 17 points, and Dee Brown added 15 points and nine assists for Illinois, which celebrated its new No. 1 ranking.

Deji Akindele scored 14 points for Chicago State (0-5).

No. 7 Connecticut 97, Northeastern 60

Storrs, Conn. — Josh Boone had a career-high 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, leading Connecticut. Boone anchored a dominating post for UConn (4-0), which overwhelmed smaller Northeastern (2-4) in a matchup of schools nicknamed Huskies.

Big 12 Men

Nebraska 64, Morgan State 34

Lincoln, Neb. — Not that Nebraska coach Barry Collier could tell much from his team’s 30-point win, but he says he thinks the Cornhuskers are making progress.

“We’re still finding ourselves as a team,” Collier said. “I would hope we’re going to get better right through the year. We hoped to improve tonight by playing with a higher level of intensity and playing smarter. By and large, we did that.”

Nebraska (3-1) and Morgan State (2-5) were tied at 20 when the Cornhuskers’ Jake Muhleisen hit a driving layup with 3:26 remaining in the first half to start a 25-3 run that put the game away.

Joe McCray led the Huskers with 12 points.

Kansas State 76, Oakland, Mich. 69

Manhattan — If only Jim Wooldridge could get all of his starters to have solid games, Kansas State wouldn’t have to come from behind in the second half anymore.

Jeremiah Massey had 24 points and 15 rebounds, and Kansas State closed with a 24-8 run to beat Oakland (Mich.).

Cartier Martin and Marques Hayden each added 15 for the Wildcats (5-0), who have trailed late in the second half in four of their five games.

“I don’t know if they have played to a high level every night,” said Wooldridge, whose team is off to its best start since the 1997-98 season. “We have one that does and two that don’t. We haven’t played our best basketball yet.”

Big 12 Women

No. 13 Texas Tech 109, Miami 49

Lubbock, Texas — Alesha Robertson scored a career-high 37 points, including nine three-pointers, to lead No. 13 Texas Tech.

Cisti Greenwalt added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Raiders (3-1), her second double-double in as many games.

Tamara James scored 16 points to lead Miami (3-5).