Iowa State’s one-time 18-point lead dwindled to four with as little as 54 seconds to play, but a few late defensive stops helped the Cyclones hold on to defeat Oklahoma, 58-51.

Jiri Hubalek scored a career-high 26 points to lead all scorers and help build the Cyclones’ lead.

“We’ve been working hard on trying to feel the defenders,” Hubalek said. “It was just great preparation and working on trying to feel the double team coming.”

Hubalek had been wildly inconsistent over the previous five games for the Cyclones (13-12, 4-7 Big 12), but started to show signs of progress, scoring 11 of Iowa State’s first 14 points.

“[Jiri] is still a work in progress,” ISU coach Greg McDermott said. “We’re still trying to teach him how to read the defense. He did what we needed him to do tonight and it paid off.”

Hubalek credited the quick start – 13 points in the first half, as well as his teammates – as the spark to his 26-point outburst.

“The team did a great job to get me the ball early on for easy shots,” Hubalek said. “That helps a lot when you can get going early.”

The Cyclones’ defensive effort was also one of their better performances of the season, limiting Oklahoma (15-9, 6-5 Big 12) to just 17 first-half points.

McDermott said that stingy defense early in the game allowed Iowa State’s offense – which was held scoreless for the first five minutes – time to get on track.

“[Our offense] achieved my goal of not turning it over much, with no turnovers in the first six possessions, we just didn’t score,” McDermott said. “The fact that we played great defense gave our offense the opportunity to get started.”

Iowa State kept Oklahoma’s Nate Carter off the scoreboard for the first 28 minutes of the game before he made two free throws, which would come to be his only points of the game.

“We just had the mindset to come in and play defense,” ISU forward Rahshon Clark said. “We’ve been losing too many games at home, letting the fans down. We just came out with the attitude that we were going to win this game.”

Carter came into the game averaging 19.3 points in Big 12 play, but was held to just two points for the game. It was the first conference game this season in which Carter did not hit a shot from the floor.

Freshman Cyclone standout Wesley Johnson was equally ineffective for Iowa State, tallying only two points and no rebounds for the first time this season.

Johnson still found a way to contribute with his stellar defense effort on Carter.

Taylor shoots his way into ISU history

By Grant Wall

Daily Staff Writer

Mike Taylor is in the ISU record book.

Taylor’s record hasn’t gotten much publicity, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive.

With a 3-pointer in Iowa State’s 58-51 win over Oklahoma, Taylor tied former Cyclone sharpshooter Dedric Willoughby for the most consecutive games with a 3.

Taylor’s streak hit 21 when he pulled up with 13:44 to play in the first half. The shot gave Iowa State a 7-5 lead – an advantage they would never relinquish – and give Taylor a place in Cyclone history.

“Mike spends a lot of time shooting the basketball, and he understands we need that part of his game for us to be successful,” ISU coach Greg McDermott said.

“We ask Mike to do a lot of things for us, and the fact that in the process of doing everything we’re asking him to do on the offensive and defensive end that he’s made a 3-point basket in virtually every game we’ve played is a credit to Mike.”

Taylor’s run started in his breakout performance, a 33-point effort against Minnesota where he hit six from behind the arc.

He made six threes in two other games and five Saturday against Texas.

The streak would be 25 games if not for a 0-4 performance against Norfolk State.

“He’s a confident player, and that confidence comes from preparation,” McDermott said.

While his consistency is impressive, the quantity of shots Taylor has made is nothing to sneeze at.

Just 25 games into his ISU career, Taylor is already 16th on the all-time 3-pointers-made charts with 64. That number also ranks him eighth on the ISU single season charts.

Parallels can be drawn from Taylor to – who else – Willoughby, the man with whom he now shares the top spot in the record books.

In his two seasons at Iowa State, Willoughby, a junior college transfer brought in by Tim Floyd, made 190 threes.

Eric Heft, Iowa State’s radio color announcer for the last 28 years, has had courtside seats for both long-range bombers.

“Mike’s an outstanding player, but he’s been asked to do more than Dedric was because Dedric had a point guard around him and some other really good players too,” Heft said. “They both have a spring in their step, they have a lot of elevation and are able to shoot over guys their own size. They might think they’re guarded, but they can both rise up and make shots.”

In his two seasons with Iowa State, Willoughby led Iowa State to the Big 8 tournament title as a junior and to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament the following season.

That, to Heft, is the biggest difference between the two shooters.

“Dedric, to me, made more big shots than anyone I’ve ever seen in a two-year period,” Heft said. “Mike’s not quite there yet, but given the right cast around them, I think he can be a real money shooter too.”