Starting in place of leading scorer and rebounder Royce White, freshman Percy Gibson paced the Cyclones with 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a win against visiting Prairie View A&M 84-59 on Tuesday night. The win ended a two-game losing streak for the Cyclones (6-3) and increased the losing streak to seven for the Panthers (2-7).

The lowdown

Gibson got the Cyclones on the board first with a layup and the home team took off from there as the Cyclones increased their lead to 10-2 three-and-a half minutes into the game. Following a 3-pointer by Prairie View’s Montrael Scott, Iowa State went on a 11-0 run capped off by a 3-pointer from guard Tyrus McGee. The Cyclones would increase their lead to 27 with 1:31 left in the first half as they dominated the points in the paint 26-12 en route to a 46-23 halftime lead.

The Panthers started the second half on a 12-3 run to cut the ISU lead to 14 with 14:58 on the clock in the second half. The Cyclones were unable to pull away until a dunk by McGee put the Cyclones up 21 and the Panthers would be unable to cut the margin any closer. Handling most of the point guard duties, senior guard Chris Allen scored 10 of his team-high 16 points and dished out five of his six assists in the second half. Five-foot-9-inch freshman guard Tavon Sledge put the exclamation point on the 25-point win with a two-handed slam with seconds remaining in the game.

Turning point

Down by 23 at the half, the Panthers cut the ISU lead to 14 after a layup and free throw from guard Jourdan DeMuynck with 14:58 remaining. The Cyclones increased their lead to 17 three more times in the next three minutes, but the Panthers continued to stick around.

McGee made two free throws after a media timeout and then threw down his first dunk of the season after a steal by guard Bubu Palo. After a pair of missed shots and a turnover by the Panthers, Allen drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Cyclones a 63-39 advantage with 10:13 to play.

The ISU lead would remain above 20 points for the rest of the game as the Cyclones cruised to their fourth win in five games at home this season.

X Factor

ISU forward Percy Gibson

The freshman from Detroit, Mich., set new career highs in points and rebounds with 15 and seven after starting in place of White. At 6-foot-9-inches and 245 pounds, Gibson controlled the paint for the Cyclones, making seven of his eight shots from the field and hauling in the second-most rebounds on the team behind Chris Babb’s nine.

By the numbers

4:15: amount of time that White sat out the game before checking in off the bench. White was out of the starting lineup for the first time this season after being three minutes late for the pregame shootaround.

9: rebounds for Babb, a season-high.

16: points off turnovers in the first half for the Cyclones. They finished with 28 points off turnovers compared to eight for the Panthers.

16: points for Allen, Iowa State’s leading scorer.

18: points for Prairie View A&M’s leading scorer Jourdan DeMuynck.

24-36: free throws made and attempted for Iowa State, both season-highs.

25: winning margin for the Cyclones, their third win by 25 or more points this season.

Up next for Iowa State

With losses to Drake and Northern Iowa already this season, the Cyclones will try and avoid a sweep by the Iowa schools as they host the Hawkeyes at 7 p.m. Friday. The Hawkeyes (5-4) fell to Northern Iowa on Tuesday night 80-60 in Iowa City. Senior guard Matt Gatens leads Iowa in scoring with 13.8 points per game. Iowa leads the all-time series 42-22, but the Cyclones have won two straight, including a 75-72 victory in Iowa City last season.