The stars shone brightly in Ames on Sunday night as Jiri Hubalek, Bryan Petersen and most of all Wesley Johnson led the Cyclones (8-5) to a 76-64 victory over two-time defending American East Conference champions Albany (5-7).

After picking up two quick fouls in a span of four minutes in the first half, Johnson took over the game with 15 points in the first six minutes of the second half, catalyzing the Cyclones to victory.

“It’s really fun when Wesley gets going,” Petersen said. “He’s our main guy – it’s a lot of fun when that happens.”

Johnson felt like he had something to prove to his team in the second half after a disappointing first 20 minutes. He took the game upon his shoulders and went on a 15-0 run by himself, including four three pointers and one traditional three point-play in a six-minute span.

“I feel like I really let my team down in the first half with those two quick fouls,” Johnson said. “It’s nice when we go on a run like that; we feel relaxed and get more comfortable.”

A couple of Johnson’s field goals were assisted by Petersen. He has an amazing assist to turnover ratio over the last six games of 29-1. That includes an eight assist, zero turnover showing against Albany.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” head coach Greg McDermott said. “And the one turnover was by a great read by the center against Alabama. We’re asking a lot of him and fortunately for us he’s delivering right now.”

Hubalek rounded out the trio of stars contributing with yet another double-double while grabbing 10 rebounds and pouring in 22 points, 12 of which came from the stripe

“Jiri’s been playing with a little bit more tenacity [than he was] and his free-throw numbers have gone through the roof because of it,” McDermott said.

The Cyclones jumped out to an early 9-3 advantage at the 15 minute mark of the first half, that lead was quickly trimmed and turned into a 14-14 tie by midway through the first. It would remain close the rest of the half with no team attaining a lead larger than four points. The Cyclones led 32-28 at the break.

“I was scared to death of this team,” McDermott said. “Albany is a well coached team and they play basketball the right way.”

The second half started with Johnson’s catalyzing effort and the Cyclones quickly accumulated a 19 point lead with 13:40 remaining in the game. The Great Danes would get as close as eight, but Iowa State kept them in the rearview and won by 12.

Two Iowa-natives, Dowling’s Brian Lillis and Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Brent Wilson lead the Great Dane’s in scoring with 13 and 12 points respectively.

The Cyclones will be in action next when they take on USC-Upstate on Wednesday in Hilton at 7 p.m.