At the end of one half of play, it looked as though the Cyclones were headed for yet another defensive struggle.

However, when the two teams headed back to the court with the score tied at 24, the Cyclones took control from the start and outscored Baylor 40-18 in the second half for a 64-42 win.

“This was a good win for us. To be 14-12 and 5-8 in the conference is monumental for this group,” coach Larry Eustachy said.

The 8,902 fans that saw the contest were witness to one of the ugliest first halves in memory, as the teams shot a combined 39 percent from the floor in combining for 48 points.

The Cyclones were led by Stevie Johnson, who was back to his aggressive nature that had been his signature earlier in the season. He tallied nine points to go along with five rebounds to pace ISU.

Struggling again was Big 12 leading scorer Marcus Fizer, who was 1-6 from the field for only two points.

Rodney Hampton opened the second half by hitting a three-pointer, and the tone was set for the rest of the game.

After Leon Morris hit a three-pointer to cut the Cyclone lead to three, ISU went on a 17-5 run that was highlighted by the play of Paris Corner.

The sophomore from Beaumont, Texas, scored seven points in a row to cap the rally, including a three-pointer that, in essence, put the game in the bag.

“Paris played really well. He gave us a big lift. He hasn’t played a lot, and he’s probably the freshest guy on our team,” Eustachy said.

The strong finish gave rise to optimistic feeling all around.

“We have a lot of confidence in ourselves. We are looking forward to the rest of our season, even though it’s against some of the best teams in the conference,” Corner said.

A key to the win, according to Eustachy, was the way the unit that started the second half played.

It was an interesting lineup, featuring Tony Rampton, Klay Edwards, Rodney Hampton, Johnson and Nurse.

“That group I thought won the game for us. They came out with a lot of energy. I thought Michael had one of his better games, and Tony and Klay really set the tone,” Eustachy said.

Corner felt the turnaround was due to the team working harder.

“In the first half, we played bad. They had a lot of uncontested shots, and in the second half, we came out and just worked hard,” Corner said.

The Cyclones will face a tough road the rest of the way. They travel to Kansas State on Saturday and finish by traveling to Missouri before coming home to face Kansas.