The Cyclones (3-0) rode an early barrage of 3-point shooting to open up a double-digit lead Sunday night. From there, Iowa State was able to fend off UW-Milwaukee (2-1) to win 79-61.

By the end of the game, the Cyclones set a team record with 15 3-pointers in the game, coming from five different players. The previous high was 13. Iowa State shot an unbelievable 55.6 percent from beyond the arc, which was even higher then the 47.5 percent the Cyclones shot from the field.

“I’ve been telling everybody that we have the potential to be a pretty good shooting team, so I’m glad they finally proved my words accurate,” McDermott said.

Sophomore guard Diante Garrett started the game hot for the Cyclones, scoring 11 of the team’s first 12 points, including three 3-pointers. He finished the game with 17 points and led the team with nine rebounds, while sophomore forward Craig Brackins led the team with 18 points on the night.

“They were leaving me open, backing up off of me, so I had to have the confidence to take the jump shot and it was falling in for me today,” Garrett said.

Although Garrett was confident, he is not generally known as a shooter.

“When DG [Diante Garrett] starts shooting three’s and making them, you know its a good day,” Brackins Joked. “But, no, he went out there and he was confident out there, I saw him. I was just trying to get him the ball because he was the hot man.”

Iowa State, however, cooled off at the beginning of the second half, starting 1-of-3 from long range. The Panthers then used some 3-point shooting of their own to go on an 11-5 run to open the half and cut the Cyclones’ lead to four.

With 9:16 remaining in the game, and the Cyclones leading 58-54, Iowa State took over, ending the game on a 21-to-5 run highlighted by sophomore forward Jamie Vanderbeken’s 3-point shooting. Vanderbeken hit back-to-back 3-point shots to push the lead back into double digits.

“We always try to stay calm and not get so down on ourself,” Garrett said.

Lucca Staiger, who is still recovering from knee surgery, broke out on Sunday, making the first three pointers of this career going 4-of-5 from the arc.

Garrett and Brackins were named to the all-tournament team, and Brackins was named tournament MVP. The Cyclones will play a week from Monday at Hawaii.