It was a mixed bag Friday night at Hilton Coliseum as the ISU men’s basketball team ran away in the second half from Southern, winning 82-59.

Korie Lucious, in his first regular season game as a Cyclone, struggled mightily.

Iowa State’s first true point guard in a year hit one of his 12 shots, turning the ball over seven times to go with his six assists. As a team, Iowa State turned the ball over 21 times with only 12 team assists.

“I think he’s pressing a little bit,” Hoiberg said of Lucious. “There’s no doubt about it. He was in too big of a hurry and just rushing everything.”

Will Clyburn, who was quiet in Iowa State’s exhibition game, had his first ISU double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Clyburn’s exclamation point came in the second half when he glided down the baseline for a tomahawk dunk over an SU defender. During the week, the biggest focus was on rebounding and attacking the basket.

Clyburn said those aspects are what gets his game going.

“That kind of gets me started, me going to the glass,” Clyburn said. “Getting tip-ins, it gets my motor started.”

It was the same script as Iowa State’s exhibition game, as the team let Southern hang around in the first half, leading 41-39 going into the break.

“They were good; we were awful — I didn’t even recognize that team,” Hoiberg said. “We got dribble-happy, we weren’t moving the ball, we were settling for bad shots. I told the guys whoever climbed into your body before the game, get rid of that person.”

It took the Cyclones until the second half to capitalize on the size mismatch under the basket, but when they did, they ran away with the game.

“It was a tale of two halves — we came out, we gave the energy,” Hoiberg said. “The stats show. They scored 39 in the first half and 20 in the second. We’ve got to figure it out.”

One area Iowa State emphasized throughout the week of practice was rebounding. After an exhibition against Minnesota State where the team struggled in that department, there was no lack of it against Southern.

The Cyclones out-rebounded Southern 59-33. A big contribution came from two underclassmen posts, Georges Niang and Percy Gibson.

It was Gibson’s career-high in points (17), rebounds (19) and blocks (3). Niang showcased his ability inside and out, hitting both his 3-pointers while adding 15 points and 12 rebounds.

The two young posts were effective underneath the basket, going 12-of-19 while combining for 32 points and 22 rebounds.

“This was definitely my best game, but I feel like I can definitely add on to this,” Gibson said. “I don’t think this is the end.”