The Lowdown

Melvin Ejim did it all for Iowa State on Saturday.

The senior forward topped career highs across the board, scoring 48 points to go with 18 rebounds as No. 16 Iowa State (18-4, 6-4 Big 12) pulled away to defeat TCU (9-13, 0-10) 84-69 Saturday at Hilton Coliseum. 

Ejim scored 33 points in the second half alone, including a spurt where he scored 20-straight for the Cyclones. Georges Niang was the only other ISU player to reach double figures in scoring with 11 points. 

Iowa State returns to the court in West Virginia when it takes on the Mountaineers at 6 p.m. Monday.

X Factor

Melvin Ejim — Entering the game with career-highs of 23 points and 16 rebounds, Ejim blew his old marks out of the water. With 48 points, Ejim became the first Iowa State player since Craig Brackins in January 2009 to surpass 40 points in a game. 

The 48 points is a new Big 12 record, knocking Kansas State’s Michael Beasley, who scored 44 points in 2008, to second. The mark also moved Ejim to second in ISU history for points in a game, behind only Lafester Rhodes, who scored 54 points against Iowa in 1987. 

Ejim finished with 18 rebounds and six dunks after entering the game with nine total dunks on the season. 

By the Numbers

6 — Melvin Ejim entered Saturday’s game with nine dunks on the season. The senior forward dunked six times in the win — five alley-oops and a breakaway — to up that total to 15. 

27 — Iowa State assisted on 27 of its 32 makes in the win. The Cyclones were led by DeAndre Kane, who dished out 10 assists.

1 — The Cyclones remain the only team in Division I to score at least 70 points in every game this season. Iowa State used 52 second half points to easily continue that mark after scoring 32 points in the first half.