DES MOINES — For a year while Chris Allen, Chris Babb, Anthony Booker and Royce White sat out as transfers, people throughout Cyclone nation predicted big things.

Coach Fred Hoiberg and his players all said in the lead-up to the season that they weren’t buying into the hype and knew what they needed to do to succeed. On Tuesday night and in the days prior, Allen said that might not have been the case, as the Cyclones fell to Drake 74-65.

“I wouldn’t say [it was] nerves or being on the road,” Allen said. “I just felt like guys probably had the ‘big head’ a little bit. The last two games we’ve been on fire, so going into this game we probably thought the same thing was going to happen.”

Hoiberg took all the blame when talking to reporters after the game. Visibly frustrated and rubbing his hands on his forehead, the second-year coach talked about poor practices in the days before the game in Des Moines.

“Overall, it was just a very disappointing effort,” Hoiberg said. “We didn’t come out ready to play tonight. Put this one on me. I didn’t have these guys prepared.

“I didn’t feel like our practices were great the last two days, and that’s on me as a coach. We’re not as good as we think we are, that’s for sure.”

The Cyclones (1-1) shot 36.8 percent from the field on the game and just 31.6 percent from beyond the arc. Scott Christopherson, who had amassed 35 straight games with a 3-pointer made, saw that streak snapped after going 0-2 from beyond the arc.

Drake (2-0), in contrast, shot 50 percent on the game, with 59.3 percent shooting in the second half when the Bulldogs pulled away.

Allen echoed his coach’s assesment of the practices leading up to the game. He said there was a lack of intensity during preparation, with players seemingly expecting a win.

“[It was] kind of a mediocre week of practice,” Allen said. “Then [we] kind of just came into the game thinking they were just gonna give it to us. They came out playing harder than us and it showed.”

White had another solid game offensively with 21 points and 14 rebounds. The forward, who played to a chorus of “Hide your laptop!” from the Drake student section, disagreed that the blame should all fall on his coach.

“I think the coaches can only prepare you so much,” White said. “You’ve got to go out there and win the battle. There’s a lot of variables that go into winning a basketball game.

“We got outplayed tonight, we got outworked. We’ve got a lot of things to work on, and it’s a growing process.”

While the Cyclones struggled on the offensive end — Hoiberg said the team took too many “quick shots” — they were also exposed on the defensive end.

Drake guard Rayvonte Rice, who was in his first game back from a suspension following an arrest for shoplifting, went for 18 points and six rebounds, while forward Ben Simons tallied 24 points and four rebounds for the Bulldogs.

“[Rice] exposed us,” Hoiberg said. “He got around our guys, hit a couple floaters. It was a bad effort in all areas for us tonight.”

This being the Cyclones’ first road game of the season, and some players’ first road game ever, coaches and players were wary a night like Tuesday was possible.

Hoiberg said he was very concerned prior to the game.

“You’ve got to be a man to win on the road,” Hoiberg said. “You can win games at home and not have your best effort. You’ve got to bring it if you’re going to win anywhere on the road.

“I was very concerned about this game. For me, I was very disappointed in our practices [leading up to the game]. The last few days I just feel like our focus wasn’t there and it showed tonight.”