The ISU men’s basketball team has the starting five to compete in the Big 12, but if the Cyclones want to become a serious player in the conference, the bench is going to have to step up.

In five Big 12 games so far, the Cyclones’ reserves are averaging just 8.2 points per game. Take out the two blowout losses to Kansas and Kansas State, which saw the benches emptied with significant time left, and that number drops to 6 points.

“[I’m] not satisfied. It needs to get better,” said coach Greg McDermott of his bench’s scoring.

One encouraging sign is that Sean Haluska finally hit his first three-pointer of the season against Kansas State. Coming into the season, Haluska was expected to be an outside threat, but his cold shooting has altered his role. Coming off the bench he has become a high-energy guy who plays tough defense and makes the extra pass.

But after scoring seven points against the Wildcats, the team is hoping Haluska can start to contribute some scoring as well and take some pressure off the starters.

“I hope he is a little more comfortable,” McDermott said. “The reality of it is that I’ve got to try and get Wesley [Johnson] off the floor a little bit more … Guys like Sean, Cameron Lee and Charles Boozer: One of those guys has really got to step up.”

The lack of scoring doesn’t mean that the bench hasn’t contributed. Each of the three main players off the bench – Haluska, Alex Thompson and Diante Garrett – brings something to the court every time they enter the game.

Garrett can provide a change of pace at the point, able to get into the lane more easily than starter Bryan Petersen. As Garrett has cut down on his turnovers, his playing time and contribution has increased.

Thompson played his best game of the season in a Jan. 19 win over Oklahoma State without ever attempting a shot. In 23 minutes, the junior forward had five rebounds, three assists, three blocks, a steal and countless hustle plays that don’t show up in the box score.

Sophomore Cory Johnson provides another body down low, but hasn’t played consistently.

Helping the team in those ways is something Thompson has embraced.

“A lot of coming off the bench is just bringing a fresh body in and trying to bring as much energy in as you can,” Thompson said. “As far as points, scoring will come your way. Coming off the bench, a lot of times the first thing you are thinking about isn’t necessarily scoring. It’s more defense and rebounding.”

While McDermott wants to see more scoring from the bench to take some pressure off the starters, he isn’t going to force his bench to come in and look to score right away.

“I think [bench scoring] is something that Coach would like to see,” Thompson said. “But we still play within the game. We aren’t going to come in and look to force things too much. I think we need some more points from our bench, but we just have to work on how we get it done.”