With its 83-62 rout of BYU on Saturday, the ISU men’s basketball team is officially through the first half of its nonconference season.

A 5-2 record and win against the Cougars highlights the first seven games with the Cyclones already showing improvement in several areas. Six games separate Iowa State (5-2, 0-0 Big 12) from heading to Lawrence, Kan., to kick off the Big 12 season Jan. 9, 2013.

“I like the balance,” said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg of his team. “That’s one thing about our team, is if you go out and try to shut one guy down, somebody else can beat you.”

And that could be an understatement. Between Tyrus McGee, Georges Niang and Percy Gibson, the trio combines for more than 34 points and 15 rebounds per game.

In addition to having a well-balanced attack, the Cyclones have made a statement in rebounding that ranks among the nation’s best.

Beside the team’s +12.4 rebounding margin, one of the top 10 in the country, its 46.9 rebounding average is the best in the country.

“Going into the season, we thought: ‘Man, we better rebound or we’re going to get killed,’” said junior Melvin Ejim. “We definitely changed it around and it’s worked out for us, so we’re doing a great job.”

Had the team rebounded and contended only against low-caliber competition, it might not be as big of a surprise. But when Iowa State won the rebounding battle against UNLV, Cincinnati and BYU, Hoiberg said it’s easier to evaluate where  is team sits.

“You always have a better idea of who your team is when you go

up against top-level talent, which we did,” Hoiberg said. “We learned a lot about ourselves after those

two games. It’s a painful lesson sometimes when you have to learn that way, but I thought we really responded, and that’s the thing I’m most proud of our guys.”

On the other side of things, the Cyclones know there are still plenty of areas for improvement. The one that has arguably raised the most questions is turnovers.

Through the first seven games, Iowa State has turned the ball over 111 times, an average of fewer than 16 per game. Iowa State’s -0.29 turnover margin is second only to Texas (-4.29) for worst in the Big 12.

“The biggest area of improvement I probably would’ve said [is] just overall taking care of the ball,” Ejim said. “A lot of us, even myself, had a lot of turnovers even the last game, but we really cleaned that up this BYU game, and hopefully we can continue to do that throughout the season.”

Redshirt senior Korie Lucious has shown to be more comfortable running the point by his increased assist numbers and decline in turnovers. Lucious’ 4.7 assists per game average has slowly surpassed his four turnovers per game as of late.

Overall, the Cyclones know there is no room for being complacent and improving not only in turnovers, but everywhere across the board is necessary before they head to Kansas.

With six nonconference games remaining, time is sure to fly by as Iowa State plays three games in six days beginning Tuesday. Once Big 12 play begins, the time designated to improving certain areas is more limited.

“Just continue to get better each game,” said Will Clyburn of the team’s goal. “Just continue to improve and just continue to try to perfect the game plan and be a better team and find each other’s roles, basically.”

Next up, Florida Gulf Coast heads to Hilton Coliseum for a Tuesday night showdown. The Eagles beat Miami, which beat Michigan State, earlier in the season. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.