AMES, Iowa – Iowa State closed the first half on a 34-8 run to overcome a sluggish start in a 96-55 win over Mississippi Valley State Sunday afternoon in Hilton Coliseum. Preseason All-American Craig Brackins led the way for the Cyclones, tallying his 16th 20-point/10-rebound game of his career with 28 points and 12 boards. He also got help from Marquis Gilstrap, who notched a career-high 21 points in the win.
The win marked the first time ISU scored 90 points or more in back-to-back games since the 2000-01 season. The 96 points was the most points scored by the Cyclones in the Greg McDermott era. ISU remains unbeaten at 4-0, while the MVSU falls to 1-3.
"I feel like this is a team that's got enough offensive weapons," ISU head coach Greg McDermott said. "Once we got rolling midway through the first half, I thought we were pretty efficient offensively the rest of the way."
A slow start kept the Cyclones behind 14-10 with 12:47 remaining in the opening period. The Delta Devils made 6-of-10 shots from the floor to open the game to help mount the early lead.
Brackins rallied the troops by making six points down low in a decisive 21-2 run to take control of the game at 31-16 with 5:30 left before the break. The run was capped off with 16-straight points by the Cyclones, including 10-straight points in less than 1:30 behind a pair of treys from Lucca Staiger and Gilstrap.
MVSU’s Julius Cheeks finally stopped the slide with a lay-in to make it 31-18 at the 5:08 mark of the first half.
The Cyclones then went on a 13-4 run to close the half for a 44-22 halftime lead. Brackins had eight points in the run to pad his stat-line to 16 points and nine boards at the break.
After MVSU cut the lead to 49-31 at the beginning of the first half, the Cyclones went on another big run (13-2) to improve their lead to 62-33 with 13:27 remaining in the game. Gilstrap tallied eight points in the run, including back-to-back treys.
MVSU cut the lead back down to 20 points on a 9-0 run, but another Gilstrap jumper and seven points by Brackins made it 71-44 with 10:23 left in the game.
All 12 Cyclones that played scored in the game, including Scott Christopherson, who notched 10 points to record double figures for the fourth-straight game. He is the first Cyclone reserve to reach double digits in four games in a row since Marcus Jefferson in 2003. Diante Garrett added eight assists in the win.
ISU shot 55.2 percent from the field, the third time in four games where ISU was above 50 percent from the floor. ISU also outrebounded its fourth-straight opponent, 52-27.
This afternoon’s game was a part of the Chicago Invitational. ISU will play host to one more game in the tournament (Nov. 24 vs. Tennessee State) before traveling to Chicago to play on Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 27-28).
