Some things never change.

With a lineup quite different from last year’s regular season Big 12 championship team, the ISU men’s basketball team found a familiar face, sophomore Jake Sullivan, to lead it to an exhibition victory over Global Sports, 90-81.

Sullivan’s performance was most reminiscent of last season with four minutes left in the second half as he drained a huge three-point basket, awakening the crowd and giving his team an 80-72 lead.

But the Cyclone victory wasn’t sealed until Sullivan found senior Tyray Pearson with 31 seconds left for a dunk, leading to the final score.

Sullivan and sophomore Marcus Jefferson led the Cyclones with 19 points each. Junior forward Omar Bynum finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Pearson added 15 points along with sophomore Shane Power’s 13.

“We need to get better defensively, and that’s obvious,” Sullivan said. “We’ll keep getting better.”

In a somewhat surprising move, the starting five for the Cyclones included Jefferson, Bynum, Sullivan, Power and sophomore Andrew Skoglund, leaving out Pearson.

“[ISU head coach Larry Eustachy] was just playing the guys that were executing at the time,” Pearson said. “I guess I hadn’t been executing lately.”

Pearson did replace Skoglund just two minutes into the game.

The Cyclones weren’t the only team with familiar faces in Hilton Coliseum as Global Sports were led by former Cyclone Michael Nurse, who had 20 points and shot six-of-11 from behind the three-point stripe.

Eustachy was frustrated with his team’s performance in the post, where the Cyclones gave up 36 points in the paint.

Global Sports also shot 50 percent from the field for the game, something that irritated Eustachy.

“Our team is the softest group I’ve ever had,” Eustachy said. “We have to get a base and a foundation in defending and rebounding.”

Eustachy’s plan to help his team improve is to be harder on them, saying his team showed a lack of physical toughness.

“I like these guys so much I’ve been way too soft on them,” he said. “We have pretty good strength, we don’t apply it.”

Eustachy said the team is where it should be, and he is confident in the team’s ability to score points.

“We haven’t shot a free throw in practice, we haven’t done a shooting drill in practice, and we got 90 points,” Eustachy said. “Points are never going to be the issue.”

Some other positive aspects came from this win as Global Sports has already beaten Iowa State’s Big 12 opponent, Kansas State, and nearly pulled out a victory against Fresno State in the past week.

“I’m surprised we won,” Eustachy said. “This is no lay down. These are good games for us.”