Last year, if Marcus Fizer had failed to score at least 10 points, collected only four rebounds and spent much of a game frustrated and foul-burdened, the Cyclones would have been helpless.

Wednesday night, the bench shook the Cyclones out of lethargy late in the first half, leading to a 78-64 triumph over Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State (6-3) sputtered early, fumbling passes, reaching and grabbing on defense and being out-hustled by the young Panthers, who fell to 4-3 for the season.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee competes in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.

As Fizer sat, the Cyclones continued to flounder. With 3:02 remaining in the first half, the score was tied 25-25.

“In the beginning, they were more determined than us,” forward Martin Rancik said. “The crowd was really down, and we needed something to get us going.”

What ignited Iowa State was a late first half 8-0 run punctuated by Stevie Johnson’s breakaway lay-up.

At half-time, the Cyclones had built a 33-25 lead and would never trail again.

Torrid shooting and key contributions from reserve forwards Johnson and Paul Shirley served as the wake-up call.

“Stevie was the MVP,” Eustachy said. “If it wasn’t for him we could have been in a lot of trouble.”

“He always seems to come in and spark the team and the crowd,” Shirley said.

Most of the trouble for the Cyclones came from center Chad Angeli, who led the Panthers in rebounding (eight), assists (six) and shared top point honors with freshman forward Clay Tucker, each with 20.

Following a 5-0 run to begin second-half play, the Cyclones led by 13 and as many as 17, but failed to completely subdue the wily Panthers.

With 2:30 remaining, the score was 69-58.

“That’s a good team,” Eustachy said. “There’s a lot of parity in this country.”

Iowa State shot miserably from the foul line, finally stroking their last 4 to finish the game 13 for 25, a touch above 50 percent.

“With the free throws, I’m not sure if it’s mental or what,” Eustachy said. “I think the free throw kind of puts us out of whack.”

From the field, however, the Cyclones were extremely accurate, dropping through 60.4 percent of their shots.

Five Cyclones reached double figures, with Rancik, Kantrail Horton, Jamaal Tinsley and Johnson each tallying 12 points.

Horton, playing on a severely sprained ankle, connected on his first four field goals and mustered the Cyclones lone three-pointer.

Johnson, who until this season had been a staple in the Iowa State starting line-up, was active at both ends, pacing the Cyclones in offensive rebounds (3), and adding a blocked shot.

“I’ve just been trying to play hard and think the game out,” Johnson said. “I’m working on making better decisions.”

Bitter rival Iowa slips into Ames Saturday, and the Cyclones know they must augment their efforts with more precision and better concentration.

“We’re not executing well enough to beat an Iowa,” Eustachy said. “We probably took a step backwards tonight.”

“A performance like this won’t cut it against Iowa,” Rancik added.