MEN’S BASKETBALL: Cyclones’ stingy defense leads to victory over Braves
ISU forward Marquis Gilstrap drives to the basket past Bradley’s Taylor Brown during the first half of the Cyclones’ game against the Braves on Sunday in Ames. Photo: The Associated Press/Charlie Neibergall
December 21, 2009
If there was any leftover rust from finals week, the Cyclones certainly didn’t show it as they cruised to a 87–68 win over Bradley (5–5) at Hilton Coliseum on Sunday.
Iowa State (8–3) scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed, jumping out to a 25-point halftime led and coasting through the second half to victory.
“The first half is as well as we’ve played all year,” coach Greg McDermott said. “Defensively, our rotations [were] good. We were able to make their looks from the 3-point line at least challenged, and we were able to plug some gaps in their dribble penetration.”
Both teams spread the scoring out. The Cyclones had seven players score five points or more, including 25 points from Marquis Gilstrap and 16 from Craig Brackins. Brackins led the team with 12 rebounds and seven assists, leaving him just short of a triple-double.
“I made some nice passes and they were finishing them, so I was having fun,” Brackins said.
The Braves were led by Andrew Warren with 16 points and Chris Roberts added 12.
The Cyclones had a noticeable size advantage at nearly every position and they used that advantage to control the glass, outrebounding the Braves 34–28.
Iowa State’s size also helped it on defense. Bradley looked flustered by the height of the Cyclones and couldn’t find much room to shoot — especially in the first half, shooting just 26.9 percent from the floor. The Braves finished the game shooting 38.1 percent.
“Our defense fueled us today instead of our offense, which was a good turnaround for us because normally we just feed off of our offense,” Brackins said. “I like it like that better. We need to get better on our defense; there are still a lot of things to work on.”
Conversely, the Cyclones found plenty of room to shoot the ball over the smaller Bradley squad, managing 59.6 percent for the game.
Bradley guard Dodie Dunson did not play in the game after breaking his left arm Nov. 15. Dunson started his college career at Iowa State in 2006, but transferred to Bradley after his freshman season.
