OKLAHOMA CITY -- The top-seeded Nebraska baseball team didn't finish off eighth-seeded Iowa State until 12:30 a.m. Thursday morning, but the Huskers managed a 5-2 win over the Cyclones in the fourth and final game of Wednesday's first round at the Southwestern Bell Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.

The Huskers had to wait until 9:45 p.m. to start its pursuit of a third straight Big 12 Tournament title, then waited until after 11 p.m. to get its first hit, but the Huskers scored the final four runs to advance in the tournament.

With the victory, No. 3-ranked Nebraska improved to 42-14 overall and will play fifth-seeded Oklahoma State in a winner's bracket matchup on Thursday at 8 p.m. in a game televised by College Sports Southwest on Time Warner Cable Channel 13 in Lincoln. The Cowboys (39-18) thumped fourth-seeded Baylor, 18-4, in the tournament's third game Wednesday. Iowa State fell to 22-28-1 on the season and will play the Bears in Thursday's second elimination game at 1 p.m.

Matt Hopper's two-out single to right in the bottom of the seventh inning drove in John Cole with the go-ahead run from second base to give the Huskers a 3-2 lead. Adam Stern started Nebraska's rally in the seventh with a double to the wall in right center for the Huskers' first extra-base hit of the game, and just their fourth overall against Iowa State starter Lincoln Mincks, who no-hit the Huskers for 4.2 innings.

After Stern doubled, Mincks threw one ball to John Cole, before being relieved by right-hander Joe Bell. Stern advanced to third on a wild pitch before Cole walked to put runners at the corners for Dan Johnson. Iowa State Coach Lyle Smith replaced Bell with left-hander Alex Donnelly and got Johnson to hit a grounder off the end of the bat back to Donnelly, who threw Stern out at the plate for the second out.

With Cole at second and Johnson at first, Hopper singled sharply to right to give the Huskers the lead. Nebraska added an insurance run after Justin Seely reached first on an error and Jed Morris was hit by pitch to score Johnson from third for a 4-2 Nebraska lead. Nebraska added one more run on Johnson's RBI single to score Will Bolt from third for the final margin.

Although the Huskers took some time to heat up, Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said the Huskers were confident they would break through.

"They got the first six hits and we got the last seven, but we did not panic," Van Horn said. "We knew we could break out and get a big hit, or that they would make a mistake defensively, which they didn't do. But we were able to get the big hit and make some plays down the stretch."

Van Horn said Nebraska's strong pitching was the key to victory.

"We had some great pitching tonight. R.D. Spiehs did a tremendous job for us"� Van Horn said. "This was a big win because we lost two to them last weekend and they had some momentum. We had some pressure to beat them, and that isn't an easy thing to do because they have a good ballclub."

Bell (0-2) took the loss for the Cyclones in relief of Mincks, who did not allow the Huskers' first hit until Bolt's two-out single in the bottom of the fifth. Bolt was left stranded at third after two walks to Jeff Leise and Stern. Mincks got John Cole to ground out to third base to end the inning and Nebraska's second threat of the game.

Despite carrying a no-hitter deep into the fifth inning, Mincks trailed 1-0 after battling control problems in the first inning, when he walked Stern, Cole and Johnson to set up Hopper's sacrifice fly to left which scored Stern for the game's first run.

Nebraska starter Jamie Rodrigue was not as dominant as Mincks, but the sophomore left-hander shut out the Cyclones for three innings before surrendering two runs in the fourth inning. Rodrigue got the first out before Rob Conway singled. The Cyclone threat appeared to fizzle after Joe Urban flied to center for the second out, but after Rodrigue hit Brandon Cashman with a pitch, he gave up consecutive singles to Ryan Wickham and Jason McNertney scored Conway and Cashman to give ISU a 2-1 lead.

Rodrigue, who allowed all six of Iowa State's hits, was relieved by junior right-hander R.D. Spiehs at the start of the fifth inning, who no-hit Iowa State the next four innings to improve to 6-3 on the year.

Spiehs pitched out of his most serious trouble in the top of the seventh inning, when he got Conway to ground into his first double play of the season for an inning ending 1-2-3 double play with the bases loaded and one out. Spiehs then retired the Cyclones in order in the eighth, before Nebraska closer Thom Ott pitched a perfect ninth to seal the victory for his ninth save of the season to become NU's all-time leader with 15 career saves.