Entering the final eight minutes against Drake on Tuesday night, Iowa State held a 10-point lead and appeared to be on its way to a 7-1 start.

Following a 16-3 Bulldog rally to win the game and some key mistakes down the stretch, the Cyclones were left wondering how they let the game slip out of reach.

“We just have to figure out a way to do it… When we get a lead we’ve got to figure out what’s working,” said guard Bryan Petersen.

Drake’s comeback epitomized a season-long concern for Iowa State. Both of the Cyclones’ losses came after giving up leads late in the game. The Cyclones gave up a 13-point second-half deficit in its only other loss at Hawaii.

Iowa State also give up a late five-point lead to Northern Iowa last week before winning in overtime, and allowed Oregon State to hang around Saturday before eventually pulling away.

“I feel like a lot of our games, this year, we’ve come out strong, but the problem is sustaining that through the whole 20 minutes, and then, obviously, through the second 20 minutes of the second half,” Petersen said.

The pain from the Drake loss could be alleviated by a win over the Iowa State’s third in-state rival, as they take on the Hawkeyes (8-2) on Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

There are plenty of similarities and connections between the rivals. Iowa plays a similar style to Iowa State, hitting 9.5 three-pointers per game, and ranking 14th in the NCAA in scoring defense. In addition, ISU forward Alex Thompson spent two seasons at Iowa, and ISU guard Sean Haluska is the younger brother of former Iowa State and Iowa player Adam Haluska.

Although Tuesday’s game didn’t end well for Iowa State, a few good things that came out of it, including eight three-pointers from Lucca Staiger and three three-pointers from Petersen.

However, there are still a few things the Cyclones could have done better. Iowa State has relied heavily on three-point shooting this year, but coach Greg McDermott said he would like to see Big 12 Player of the Week Craig Brackins become more involved than he was against Drake. Brackins scored 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting, after taking 23 shots at Northern Iowa and 12 against Oregon State.

“We just have to make sure that, when we’re making three-point shots, that we don’t forget to look at Craig,” McDermott said. “Oftentimes that’s where he’s going to be the most open, is when a guy hits a couple shots… We missed him some in the game [Tuesday] night and there were times when he wasn’t aggressive enough to ask for it.”

In addition, Brackins missed a free throw late in the game with a chance to tie the game. Iowa State went to the line only six times, as opposed to 26 for Drake, partly because of the Bulldogs’ zone defense and a Drake offense that attacked the hoop.

Still, Iowa State was in position to win late in the game. Should the situation be similar in Iowa City on Friday night, how will the Cyclones handle it?

“It’s kind of hard to put into words, I mean, it’s kind of one of those things where you have to find a way,” Petersen said. “You definitely want to play smart when you’ve got that 10-point lead, but you don’t want to lose you’re edge. You want to keep attacking.”