Last season, Iowa State won its exhibition game 90-51 against Southwest Baptist, a Division II school, but struggled in the first half.

That was not the case this in Wednesday’s exhibition against the Missouri Western State Griffons, as the Cyclones were dominant throughout, beating the Griffons 87-54.

“It was good to get all the kids in the game and I saw a lot of good things,” Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said.

The Cyclones’ ability to control the paint, get to the free-throw line on offense and to shut down the Griffons offense, led to their victory.

In total, the Cyclones out-rebounded the Griffons 41-26 and outscored them in points in the paint 48-18.

“That’s a credit to the coaching staff,” junior forward Madi Wise said. “Our posts did a great job of finishing and our guards did a great job of passing the ball where it needed to be.”

Sophomore forward Ashley Joens led the way for the Cyclones offensively with 19 points on six for ten shooting from the field to go along with grabbing nine rebounds.

Five of Joens’ six made shots came from inside the paint.

“They had a lot smaller post players, so we were attacking them because they were a smaller team,” Ashley Joens.

Iowa State’s offense was very focused on attacking the paint and getting to the free-throw line.

That aggressiveness paid off as Iowa State shot 34 free throws and made 26 of them.

Joens had seven free throw attempts and made all of them.

In Wednesday’s victory, the Cyclones only shot nine threes and made three.

“We wanted to take the ball to the basket and I thought we needed to jam it inside and get to the free-throw line,” Fennelly said.

Iowa State started off the game hot, earning a 12-3 lead in the first four minutes of play. The first quarter ended with Iowa State holding a 21-11.

In the first quarter, Iowa State’s defense forced seven turnovers and drew seven fouls on Missouri Western State.

The Griffons offense continued to struggle in the second quarter, as the Cyclones held them to 27 percent shooting midway through the second quarter. The Cyclones went into halftime holding a 42-20 lead.

In the first half, Iowa State shot 57 percent from the field on 12 for 21 shooting, two for five from three-point range and 16 for 21 from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Missouri Western State only shot 26.7 percent from the field on eight for 30 shooting, four for 14 from three-point range and did not earn a single trip to the free-throw line.

Missouri Western State had its quarter scoring-wise, as it scored 16 points in the quarter on 41.7 percent shooting. However, Iowa State scored 21 points on 57.1 percent shooting in the quarter.

Iowa State outscored Missouri Western State 24-15 to win the game 87-54.

The Cyclones defeated the Griffons by 33 points, despite committing 20 turnovers.

“I thought some of our decision making wasn’t the best… but you also have to give them (Missouri Western State) credit,” Fennelly said. 

November 7 marks the beginning of the regular season for the Cyclones. They will face the Southern Jaguars at 6:30 p.m.