Paul Shirley has learned a lot about physics in his mechanical engineering courses at Iowa State — but it is on the basketball courtwhere he has figured out the basics.

“I’m kind of tall — so it’s a ways to fall that far,” the 6’10” Shirley said after ISU’s 68-59 victory Saturday over Texas A&M. “But I don’t really mind it because I like to help my teammates by getting on the floor.”

If there was a statistic for most amount of time on the floor, Shirley would have led both teams Saturday, an unusual trait for a 220-pound center.

“It’s important for us to always be playing hard,” the sophomore from Meriden, Kan., explained.

So was Saturday’s battle against the Aggies the most physical game of Shirley’s career?

“Yeah, I think it was a pretty physical one, as was the Missouri game and as was the K-State game,” he said. “I think the Big 12 in general is physical once you get into this time of the season.”

Shirley, who gained 20 pounds over the summer, has started nine of the last 10 games for the Cyclones and has led the team in rebounding in four of them, including a 13-rebound game last Saturday.

He is third on the team in scoring, behind freshman Marcus Fizer and junior Klay Edwards, and has the fewest turnovers of any Cyclone with over 200 minutes this season.

“Paul is a great player,” coach Tim Floyd said. “If you look at his turnovers, they’re not there, night in and night out. He may be the best passer on the team.”

Floyd said ISU plays with a certain flow when Shirley is in the game. “When he catches the basketball, he typically makes a good decision with it in his hands,” he said.

Also helping the Cyclones, who are 2-2 in the Big 12 and 9-8 overall, is Shirley’s ability to score in the paint.

He scored a career-high 19 points Jan. 14 at Kansas State, on 7 of 11 shooting from the field, and turned in eight points Saturday.

Shirley currently leads ISU in shooting accuracy at 65 percent and free throw accuracy with 75 percent. He is also second in rebounding with 122.

“The strength that he added this summer is really helping him finish shots around the basket that he was having a hard time finishing last year,” Floyd said.

Shirley agrees that the added weight has made a difference.

“A lot of it was getting into the weight room, and that gives me a lot more confidence banging with the big bodies out there,” he said.

But size is not the only factor in Shirley’s improved game, as the National Merit Scholar is quick to point out.

“I think a lot of players don’t realize what is involved in the game, as far as your mind,” Shirley said.

“There are many quotes about athletics being 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. I think that’s really true. You have to concentrate at all times, otherwise, if you break down for a second, you get scored on,” he said.

Shirley said the importance of concentration in basketball is similar to chemical engineering.

“There are always things that are somewhat the same,” he said. “You are always thinking. In engineering, you break down things into smaller pieces and components.”

“Basketball’s the same way, it’s a game of one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three,” Shirley said. “You have to keep that situated in your head.”

Shirley said the major difference between school and basketball is that it is really easy to get frustrated on the court, especially on a team that averages 19 turnovers per game.

“I always just try to remain calm and kind of slow down a little bit,” Shirley said. “You have to take everything into perspective and realize that [giving up a basket] is not as much of a panic situation as it seems.”

ISU will look to overcome its turnover problem tonight when the team travels to Oklahoma and again on Saturday at Nebraska.

“Going to those places is nothing but an opportunity for us, and I hope we can come out of at least one of them with a win,” Shirley said.