The bus ride home from Des Moines won’t be long for Iowa State, but the celebration in Des Moines will be, as the Drake Bulldogs took a first-half lead and stifled Iowa State offensively in the second half en route to a 74-65 win against the Cyclones.

The lowdown

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 18-13 lead before Iowa State went on a 7-0 run to take a 20-18 lead. Numerous lead changes in the final few minutes of the half ended with a tip-in by Drake’s Kraidon Woods as time expired to give Drake a 30-27 halftime lead.

The Cyclones regained the lead 44-43 after another 7-0 run with 12:27 left in the game. However, after that, the Cyclones went cold as they would end up finishing the half shooting 12-for-31 from the field and making 4-of-12 3-pointers. 

Iowa State’s last run came when, down by 10 with just more than two minutes left, a three by ISU guard Tyrus McGee cut the lead to seven and another three by Chris Babb cut the lead to three.

However, a breakaway layup by Ben Simons, who led the Bulldogs with 24 points, would bring Drake’s lead to 70-65 with less than a minute to play. ISU forward Royce White, the Cyclones’ leading scorer with 21 points, turned the ball over as he tried to pass the ball in and Simons knocked down two free throws to seal the victory for the Bulldogs.

X factor

Drake guard Rayvonte Rice

The 6-foot-4-inch sophomore battled foul trouble throughout most of the game but finished with 18 points and six rebounds. Rice, who set the Drake freshman record for scoring last season, was making his regular-season debut after missing the season opener due to suspension.

By the numbers

4 — 3-pointers made by Simons. Simons knocked down 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.

9 — first-half turnovers by each team.

14 — rebounds for White, who recorded his second double-double in as many games.

35 — consecutive games with a 3-point field goal made for Christopherson before Tuesday. Christopherson went 0-for-2 from three as his streak, the longest in ISU history, was snapped.

59.3 — field goal percentage for Drake in the second half (16-for-27), up from 41 percent (12-for-29) in the first half.

Up next for Iowa State

The Cyclones will get the remainder of the week off before hosting the Western Carolina Catamounts at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Hilton Coliseum. The Catamounts (1-1) opened up the season with a 75-50 loss at South Carolina on Saturday and then picked up their first win in a 103-65 home victory over Montreat College, an NAIA school. The Catamounts are led in scoring by redshirt sophomore guard Trey Sumler, who is averaging 12.5 points per game.