One week after a stunning defeat at the hands of EA Sports, the ISU men’s basketball team righted the ship against Bemidji State with an 84-77 victory.

“I thought that we did a few things better than we did a week ago,” said coach Wayne Morgan. “I think we still have a lot of work to do.”

The Cyclones defeated the Beavers in Hilton Coliseum on Friday night behind a 23-point effort from sophomore Rahshon Clark.

Clark also led the Cyclones with seven rebounds and was a perfect 7-7 from the free-throw line, but was reluctant to praise himself.

“I feel I didn’t play well myself – it’s a team thing,” Clark said. “If my team overall doesn’t play well, then I don’t play well.”

The Cyclones improved drastically shooting the ball from last week’s setback, shooting 48 percent from the field, compared to just 27 percent against EA Sports.

“We played better than last week, but it’s still not up to our expectations,” Clark said.

The field goal percentage of the opposition also went up, although less drastically, as the Cyclones allowed Bemidji State to shoot 46 percent.

Iowa State’s two exhibition opponents shot a combined 45 percent from the field.

“Our defense is not where it should be yet or where it will be,” Clark said.

Morgan said the win showed some things the Cyclones did well and improved on, but also highlighted areas that still need major improvement.

Morgan said he was most concerned with was the Cyclones were outrebounded by Bemidji State 39-32 and that the Cyclones’ had 24 turnovers.

“We have to become a team that rebounds the ball better than we have and we have to turn it over a lot less than we did,” Morgan said.

Clark said the team has yet to get comfortable playing together, but is confident the offense will come around with time.

“We’re not happy with [the turnovers] but it’s the beginning of the season and this doesn’t count toward our record,” he said. “We’re just trying to get better.”

The Cyclone men had four players reach double figures in scoring: Clark with 23, Will Blalock with 20, Curtis Stinson with 14 and Tasheed Carr with 12.

Freshman center Shawn Taggart did not play once again after battling a stomach virus. Morgan said he hopes Taggart will be available in the Cyclones’ season opener against Mountain State on Nov. 20.

The Cyclones will begin the regular season ranked No. 23 in the nation. It is the first time the Cyclones have been ranked coming into a season since the 1996-97 season when they debuted at No. 9.