It didn’t take Craig Brackins long to realize it was his night. He only needed

55 seconds to make an impact.

The freshman forward had 13 points in the Cyclones’ 80-57 victory over Bethune-Cookman (4-5) on Monday, after a nine point performance against Iowa last Saturday.

“The last game, it just wasn’t my day,” Brackins said. “Today, it felt pretty good. Against Iowa, it felt good, it just didn’t fall.”

What didn’t fall were his shots. The freshman connected on just 3-of-15 field

goal attempts against the Hawkeyes. Monday, they did fall as Brackins finished shooting 5-of-8 from the field and connecting both free throw attempts. He added three rebounds, the first coming less than a minute into the game, before an announced crowd of 11,829.

“I was pretty comfortable throughout the game at the beginning,” he said. “I didn’t really feel uncomfortable at all.”

Brackins wasn’t the only one feeling comfortable. The Cyclones (5-4), who hadn’t played in nine days since their 56-47 victory over Iowa, jumped out to a 9-2 lead to open the game. Sophomore guard Wesley Johnson connected on a jumper 29 seconds into the first half. Johnson finished the run with 15:13 remaining with a slam dunk.

“We knew our shots were going to be on and go with the flow of the game,” Johnson said.

Through the flow, Cyclones scored a season-high 80 points. Iowa State, which

had averaged 57.2 points through their first eight games, capped off a 17-0 run starting in the first half with a Bryan Petersen three pointer with 18:36 remaining in the second half.

“I just thought we did a better job of passing up a good shot for a great shot

tonight,” said Cyclones’ coach Greg McDermott. “That was really encouraging to

see.”

So was what the rest of Brackins did. The freshman added a pair of blocks and three assists, including one to senior forward Rahshon Clark, who connected on a three in the first half to give the Cyclones a 10 point lead.

“I think today I was just worrying about the defensive end and looking for my

teammates and just trying to do everything else, then points,” Brackins said.

His teammates did plenty after he found them. Sophomore forward Cory Johnson had a season high 13 points. Johnson added a team high 16 and senior center Jiri Hubalek had 12. The Cyclones had a season high 19 assists in the win.

“We moved the ball pretty well today,” Brackins said. “It looked like everybody was looking out for everybody. It didn’t matter who scored.”