Despite turning the ball over 24 times, the ISU men’s basketball team defeated the undersized Arkansas Pine-Bluff Golden Lions, 66-43.

The Cyclones were led once again by senior Tyray Pearson, who had 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

Junior Marcus Jefferson also added 17 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cyclones jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes with Pearson scoring all eight points.

Despite the 23-point victory, coach Larry Eustachy was bothered by turnovers and getting outscored in the second half.

“We’re not very good right now; we’re just not,” Eustachy said. “I’m glad we won; we needed to win. I think our team has tried as hard as they can, that they think they’re capable of today. But it’s not nearly hard enough.”

Freshman point guard Ricky Morgan started his first game for Iowa State playing 32 minutes. He scored four points and grabbed nine rebounds, but finished with five turnovers to just two assists.

“All the minutes a guy like Ricky can get is great,” Eustachy said.

Sophomore Shane Power also tallied 12 points for the Cyclones and was able to rest on the bench after playing every minute since sophomore Jake Sullivan went out with a knee injury.

Freshman big men Jared Homan and Adam Schaper saw significant playing time, but combined to score just seven points.

Junior Omar Bynum grabbed six boards and had a blocked shot, but he, too, turned the ball over five times.

With the Cyclones looking ahead to the Iowa game on Saturday, Eustachy says he has no remorse and his team is where it should be.

“I wish we could start the season right now,” Eustachy said. “I wish we had eight more weeks to prepare for the game Saturday.”

With the Cyclones sitting at 5-3 for the year, Eustachy is keeping up the optimism for the rest of the season.

“I’d like to think if everybody stays healthy, we’ll be a nice team at the end, whether we beat teams or not,” Eustachy said. “So we get up in the morning and keep practicing. All we can do is keep practicing and keep trying.”

With Iowa coming off a loss to Northern Iowa Tuesday night, Eustachy knows on it will be angry and ready to play come Saturday.

“We may not catch a break this whole year,” Eustachy said. “So get the beer on ice and be ready.”