Cyclones Roll Past Morris Brown, 69-45

AMES, Iowa (AP) - Iowa State basketball coach Larry Eustachy continues to express dissatisfaction with the performance of his team.

The Cyclones defeated Morris Brown, 69-45, Monday night behind Tyray Pearson's 19 points and 12 rebounds to close out the non-conference portion of their season at 8-6, but Eustachy was not pleased.

"This team sometimes goes backward before it goes forward, and parts of this game we took a step backwards," he said. "We'll probably be underdogs in our next 10 games, so we'll have to get better in practice."

The problem, Eustachy said, is his team's approach to games.

"We were excited to beat Northern Iowa, that was a big win for us," Eustachy said. "This game was suppose to be even bigger than that one and we didn't approach it that way. The game of basketball is suppose to be played hard. It takes a lot of effort to play hard and we take the easy way out at times. This team is trying the best they can, they're just not playing at the level they're capable of."

Eustachy said he feels Morris Brown is a decent team, given that the Wolverines were playing their fourth consecutive road game and fell to 1-12 with their ninth straight loss.

"I thought that was a pretty good team," Eustachy said. "They've been on the road and they've been tested. They played with a lot of energy."

Morris Brown stayed with the Cyclones for about 10 minutes. The Wolverines even led, 19-16 with 10 minutes, 47 seconds left in the half, then was outscored by the Cyclones, 19-4, to close the half on the short end of a 35-23 score.

Jake Sullivan, who contributed 18 points to the Iowa State attack, got the Cyclones within one with a field goal at the 8:35 mark and Shane Power hit one of two free throws with 7:19 to play as Iowa State drew even at 19-19. The game was tied at 21-21 before Sullivan's three-point basket ignited a 10-0 run that gave the Cyclones a 31-21 advantage with 3:09 remaining in the half. Sullivan hit another three-pointer during the spurt and Power also scored from beyond the arc. The Cyclones closed the half with four consecutive free throws for their 12-point cushion.

Iowa State began the second half with a 11-2 run that included five points from Marcus Jefferson, four by Sullivan and two from Pearson as it opened up a 46-25 lead with 16:22 to play. The Cyclones would lead by 21 points on two other occasions before a pair of free throws by Adam Schaper with 1:34 to play gave Iowa State its biggest lead at 67-44.

Morris Brown was led by Joseph Dunn with 16 points and 12 from Franklin Major.

"Iowa State has a pretty good team," said Morris Brown coach Derek Thompson. "They're young and they're going to come around. I can see them upsetting teams."

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Players Mentioned

Marcus Jefferson

Marcus Jefferson

Tyray Pearson

Tyray Pearson

Shane Power

Shane Power

Adam Schaper

Jake Sullivan

Jake Sullivan

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