Hot-Shooting Cyclones Upend USC-Upstate, 72-48

AMES, Iowa? Iowa State shot 56.9 percent from the field en route to a 72-48 victory over USC-Upstate Wednesday night in Hilton Coliseum. ISU, winners of six of its last seven games, improves to 9-5 on the season.

"Outside of the last five or six minutes, I thought we did exactly what we needed to do," ISU head coach Greg McDermott said. "I felt that Rahshon and Cameron did a great job tonight defending Luke Payne. We cleaned up things in the second half and for the most part did what we needed to do."

The Cyclones made their first five shots from the floor to mount an early 11-3 lead. Craig Brackins poured in three of ISU's first five baskets to jumpstart the offense. A 12-0 run increased ISU's lead to 27-9 with 7:21 left in the first half. Wesley Johnson tallied five points in the run with a monster dunk from the wing and a 3-pointer from the top of the key with the shot clock running down.

ISU's lead was as large as 20 points in the opening period until USC-Upstate scored the final nine points of the half to make it a 32-21 Cyclone advantage at the break. ISU shot 58.3 percent from the floor, but 13 first-half Cyclone turnovers on 12 Upstate steals got the Spartans back into the game. Brackins was 5-of-6 from the floor and had six boards in the first period to pace the Cyclones.

The Spartans cut the lead down to seven points (35-28) with 17:55 remaining behind five quick points from Bobby Davis. However, Bryan Petersen answered with two big treys on back-to-back Cyclone possessions to push ISU out in front 41-28 with 16:37 left in the game.

ISU got its lead back up to 20 points after Rahshon Clark slammed home the 68th dunk of his career to give ISU a 55-35 edge with 9:07 remaining. Cory Johnson gave ISU a spark from the bench by scoring eight points during the Cyclone second half run. The lead reached 25 points (64-39) with 5:46 left behind six baskets by Jiri Hubalek in a 3-minute span. Hubalek had 10 of his 13 points in the second half.

Brackins and Wesley Johnson joined Hubalek in double figures with 10 and 12 points, respectively. Brackins had a team-high seven boards to help ISU outrebound Upstate, 37-22. Rahshon Clark, who scored nine points in the win, held Upstate's leading scorer Luke Payne to seven points and six shots from the field. Payne was averaging 16.6 points heading into the game.

ISU finishes off its non-conference slate on Saturday (Jan.5) with a 7 p.m. clash vs. North Dakota in Hilton Coliseum.

Notes
- Wesley Johnson made two 3-pointers...he has 10 treys in the last three games.
- ISU committed 17 turnovers, its fourth-highest total of the season.
- ISU shot a season-high 56.9 percent from the field, its fifth 50 percent outing of the season.
- ISU is 8-0 this season when outshooting its opponent.
- ISU has reached 40 points first in 12 of 14 games this season.
- ISU recorded a season-high 10 steals.
- ISU outrebounded USC-Upstate, 37-22, its highest rebounding margin (+15) of the season.

- Diante Garrett posted a career-high six assists.

Next Event

Team Stats

Jiri Hubalek

Wesley Johnson

Craig Brackins

Rahshon Clark

Players Mentioned

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Rahshon Clark

Rahshon Clark

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Jiri Hubalek

Jiri Hubalek

Cory Johnson

Cory Johnson

Wesley Johnson

Wesley Johnson

Bryan Petersen

Bryan Petersen

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics