ISU head coach Bill Fennelly looked, but couldn’t find a positive in Wednesday’s 61-36 loss to Drake in Des Moines.

“I get to go home tonight to my wife and kids, that’s the only good thing,” Fennelly said. “From the game tonight, I would say absolutely nothing.”

Iowa State (3-3) will be home Friday and Saturday for just the second and third times this season, hosting the annual Cyclone Classic tournament.

A pair of easier opponents and Hilton Coliseum should provide the Cyclones with a couple of much-needed wins. But the loss to the Bulldogs, caused in large part by Iowa State’s 28 percent field goal shooting and 22 turnovers, was eerily similar to an ISU disaster on the road last year — 64-39 at the hands of Iowa.

Fennelly said he will try to find a way to rebound his team, but he’ll do it without the aid of a practice. The Cyclones didn’t practice Thursday because NCAA rules require teams to take one day off in every Sunday through Saturday period. The schedule included games Sunday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and practices Monday and Tuesday, leaving Thursday as the odd day out.

Drake kept the pace of Wednesday’s game painfully slow. The game’s leading scorer was Drake point guard Linda Sayavongchanh, who had 12 points. The only time Iowa State looked crisp was during a 12-0 second-half run that gave the Cyclones a fleeting 34-31 lead.

“When we did what we were supposed to do — pushed it up the court and got an open look — then we were back in the game,” Fennelly said. “When you play a college game at this level and the other team scores 61 points, you need to win those games.”

No ISU player shot better than 40 percent from the floor. As Drake piled basket after basket on a game-ending 30-2 run, Iowa State tried every player, looking for a basket to spark a comeback, or at least an attempt at the 40-point threshold.

Fennelly, who has always preached against passing up open shots, said the Cyclones lost confidence and missed opportunities.

“There were three or four times the defender fell down and we didn’t shoot the ball,” he said. “There were a couple times we threw the ball in the post and there was no one there and we kicked it out. The ones we did shoot, we missed.”

Fennelly said playing the next five games at Hilton Coliseum could answer questions about whether the Cyclones play better at home than on the road. So far, Iowa State’s only home date resulted in a 101-94 double-overtime win over Iowa Dec. 3.

Friday, the Cyclones host Texas Southern (2-3) at 8 p.m., and Long Island (1-5) of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Utah Valley (4-5) square off in a 5:30 competition to find which team will face the Cyclones-Lady Tigers winner. Iowa State has never played the other three teams in the Classic.

The Cyclones will play at 8 p.m. Saturday, regardless of whether they win or lose Friday.