Few teams win by scoring only 19 points in the second half. Luckily for Iowa State, that’s all Kansas State managed in the first.

Taking a 38-19 lead into halftime, the ISU men’s basketball team convincingly took down the Wildcats 57-42 Tuesday night at Hilton Coliseum.

After an 0-5 start to conference play, the Cyclones have won their sixth straight, with Kansas State being the last team to beat them.

The Cyclones torched the nets in the first 20 minutes, shooting 58 percent from the field and making half of their 3-point attempts.

“I thought the first half we played was the best first half we’ve played of the year,” said ISU head coach Wayne Morgan. “We moved the ball well, we found each other, we got good shots and we made good plays.”

Freshman Tasheed Carr led the Cyclones in the opening period with 10 points, including a deep 3-pointer with 1:28 left to go, giving Iowa State its big halftime lead.

“In the first half, we played how we practice,” said fellow freshman Rahshon Clark.

“We practice hard and we just carried that over to the game.”

The second half was a different story for the Cyclones, making only seven shots, but holding Kansas State to 38 percent shooting to come away with the victory.

“I thought our defense was good. It was obviously the primary reason we won,” Morgan said.

“In the second half, I thought we tried to play good defense, but our offense wasn’t as good and we made more turnovers. We were trying to get some things done and get the ball to some other people.”

One of those people was junior John Neal, who got out of his shooting slump by hitting 2 of 4 3-point attempts. Neal’s last field goal came in Iowa State’s victory over Baylor.

The Cyclones didn’t need a strong inside game to win this game, as Jared Homan and Damion Staple combined for only nine points. Homan was 0-for-4 from the field.

“Two games ago, [Homan] didn’t have a good game, and we were able to overcome that,” Morgan said. “Jared does other things — rebounding the ball, playing defense, changing shots and being big and strong. That really helps a lot.”

“We played them a couple of weeks ago; [we aren’t] the same team that played [tonight],” Carr said. “I think we play a different style of basketball, we’re maturing as a team and we’re learning every day.

Sophomore guard Curtis Stinson led Iowa State in points and rebounds with 16 and nine, respectively, and Will Blalock dished out seven assists. Leading the way for the Wildcats was Lance Harris with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

Iowa State doesn’t have long to savor the win, as the team heads to Lawrence, Kan., to take on the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday. Carr said he isn’t too worried.

“If we keep going out with this energy, then we can win a lot of games,” he said.

Game Notes

• Fred Peete, Big 12 Rookie of the Week, was held to two points. He averaged 24 points in Kansas State’s previous two games. He also had 13 3-pointers in those two games.

• Kansas State’s 19 first-half points were the fewest Iowa State has allowed in a half since Missouri scored 19 on March 5, 2003.

• Iowa State shot 57.7 percent in the first half, the highest percentage since shooting 65.5 percent against Drake on Nov. 23.

• Kansas State’s 42 points were the fewest scored against the Cyclones since Northern Iowa scored 41 on Dec. 19, 1999.

• John Neal made two 3-pointers, the most since he made five against Wagner on Dec. 19.

• Iowa State’s largest lead was 24 points. In the second half, its smallest was 15 points, after Cartier Martin’s jumper with 0.3 seconds remaining in the game.

• The Cyclones scored 17 points off of 19 Wildcat turnovers.

• Kansas State shot 36.7 percent from the floor and 21.4 percent from the free throw line.

— Diana Homan