Trying to figure out why a team is 1-7 in Big 12 play is sometimes as easy as looking at the numbers. Iowa State is dead last in scoring, at 60 points a game in conference play.

The Cyclones have scored less than 70 points in nine straight games, and often it’s because they also get to the free-throw line less than anybody in the conference.

“We probably need to get to the free-throw line when those [low scoring] stretches are occurring a little bit more, be a little bit more aggressive, and try to break our scoring slump from the free throw line,” head coach Greg McDermott said.

The Cyclones have attempted a Big 12 low 347 free throws this season. If you take away Craig Brackins and Diante Garrett, the other 11 Cyclones have shot only 128 free throws — that’s four fewer free throws than Brackins has attempted.

“Our two most aggressive guys going to the basket — Brackins and Garrett — are the two guys that have the most free throw attempts, and that makes sense,” McDermott said.

The Cyclones other three starters — Lucca Staiger, Justin Hamilton and Bryan Petersen, have combined to shoot only 6-of-13 from the charity stripe through eight Big 12 games.

“Part of it’s who we are. We’re not blessed with a lot of guys that have the ability to get to the basket. Because we don’t have that, you’re not going to get to the free throw line,” McDermott said.

Another problem is the two guys who do regularly get to the line don’t shoot free throws particularly well.

Garrett is a 71-percent free throw shooter, but he has dropped to a 64 percent free throw shooter in Big 12 play.

Brackins shot 73 percent from the line his freshman year. His free throw percentage this season has also dropped this year to 66 percent.

With a team full of jump shooters, the Cyclones won’t see their free throw attempts go up until more of their players start driving to the rim.

McDermott said that his team won’t learn to get more aggressive overnight, but it’s something that they’ll have to learn over the off-season.

Spark off the bench — Junior-college transfer Jamie Vanderbeken recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in his Iowa State debut versus UC Davis. The next 18 games, Vanderbeken failed to reach double figures in scoring and never played more than 20 minutes.

In the last three games he has found his shot — which in turn has led to more minutes.

“He stretches the defense and makes the double team a bit more difficult, but most importantly he’s made some strides defensively,” McDermott said.

“That’s what I’ve been encouraged to see and as long as he can continue to do that, he’s going to continue to see a lot of minutes for us.”

Vanderbeken has averaged 13.3 points and has shot 64 percent in his last three games.