DES MOINES – After a 72-58 loss to Drake Saturday night, the ISU men’s basketball coach Larry Eustachy could find solace with the fact that his Elite Eight ball club of two years also couldn’t win in the Knapp Center.

But that 1999-2000 squad, led by current NBA players Marcus Fizer and Jamaal Tinsley, went on to win 31 of their next 35 games. With the current struggles, this year’s team may be happy with half that amount of victories.

The loss ends a long week for the Cyclones which also included losses to No. 11 Boston College and No. 15 Iowa. The 0-3 week drops the Cyclones to 5-6, the first time the program has been under .500 since the 1997-98 season.

“We’re not the quickest or most tough-minded team in the world,” Eustachy said. “At the beginning of the season, we had a little false bottom to where we were at. If we had the mental makeup we have now at the beginning of the season, we’d be further along. We’re to a point where we’re all ears now.”

Two years ago, the Cyclones lost 48-44 to the Bulldogs. Saturday’s game wasn’t as bad as the score indicated, as the Bulldogs padded the lead with free throws in the final minutes.

“Our Elite Eight team couldn’t win down here, and this is the best Drake team I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Eustachy said.

The Cyclones now get a much needed eight-day rest before playing three home games to wrap up the calendar year. Iowa State hosts Maryland-Eastern Shore, Northern Iowa and Morris Brown.

One area where Eustachy will be focusing on is keeping the intensity for 40 minutes in a game. Saturday, the Cyclones led 30-28 at halftime only to get outscored 44-28 in the second half.

Iowa State has held a halftime advantage in eight of their 11 games, but lost four of those games.

“If it was a 20-minute game, we’d be heroes, but it’s not,” Eustachy said. “We broke down in the second half, and we know it’s a pattern, because they break down in practice too. I really would’ve liked to see this team put 40 minutes together.”

The Bulldogs were powered by a huge second half from guard Luke McDonald. McDonald scored 16 of his 27 points in the second half, including 11 points in a 13-5 Bulldog run that pushed the lead to nine points.

“Luke [McDonald] wore us down,” Eustachy said. “We didn’t play him right, and he’s the key to their team.”

Shane Power led the Cyclones with 22 points, but the only other scorer in double figures for Iowa State was Tyray Pearson with 10. Pearson, who also grabbed eight rebounds, was held to just two points in the second half.

Another glaring problem that came up once again for the Cyclones was foul trouble, especially with the post players. Forward Omar Bynum and center Jared Homan fouled out for the second time in three games with a Cyclone total 22 personal fouls.

“Once [Homan and Bynum] got in foul trouble, we really wanted to attack the basket,” Bulldog head coach Kurt Kanaskie said.

Eustachy was forced to go to his bench and the trio of Andrew Skoglund, Adam Schaper and Clint Varley combined to give the Cyclones 10 minutes on the floor. The Cyclones bench also lost a contributor when it was announced Saturday morning that junior college transfer Tommie King was leaving the team.

boxscore

DRAKE 72, IOWA ST. 58

IOWA ST. (5-6)

Pearson 5-11 0-1 10, Jefferson 3-8 1-2 7, Homan 3-5 0-1 6, Sullivan 2-5 2-5 7, Power 8-17 4-4 22, Bynum 0-4 0-0 0, Morgan 1-2 0-0 2, Schaper 1-1 0-0 2, Varley 0-0 0-0 0, Skoglund 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 23-53 9-15 58.

DRAKE (5-3)

J.J. Sola 2-3 5-8 9, Knight 1-3 2-2 4, Danielson 2-2 0-0 4, Newman 3-9 2-2 11, McDonald 9-16 4-5 27, Welton 1-2 0-0 2, Randolph 1-2 3-3 5. Andry Sola 1-7 7-8 9, O’Neill 0-0 1-2 1, Bancroft 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-44 24-30 72.

Halftime-Drake 30, Iowa St. 28. 3-Point goals-Iowa St. 3-7 (Power 2-5, Sullivan 1-1, Jefferson 0-1), Drake 8-21 (McDonald 5-10, Newman 3-6, Andry Sola 0-2, Knight 0-1, Welton 0-1, Randolph 0-1. Fouled out-Homan, Sullivan, Bynum. Rebounds-Iowa St. 29 (Pearson 8), Drake 33 (Andry Sola 6). Assists-iowa St. 11 (Jefferson 4), Drake 11 (J.J. Sola, Newman 3). Total fouls-Iowa St. 22, Drake 16. A-6,910.