Iowa State’s men’s basketball team did something last Sunday at Hilton Coliseum against state rivals Northern Iowa that Coach Tim Floyd never thought possible — hold an opponent to 31 percent shooting and lose.

“There aren’t very many times when that’s going to happen,” Floyd said after the game.

The Cyclones committed 23 turnovers against the Panthers, losing 54-48 in the season opener for both teams. UNI scored 22 points off Cyclone turnovers, a generous portion of which came during a 12-0 Panther run early in the second half.

“You have to give Northern Iowa a tremendous amount of credit,” Floyd said. “They played harder and harder as the game wore on.”

The loss was the first for Iowa State against UNI at Hilton Coliseum and was Floyd’s first against UNI Coach Eldon Miller.

“I’m pleased with how hard our kids played tonight,” Miller said. “It’s fun to watch when you have people playing like that.”

Miller’s Panthers return four of five starters from last season’s squad, while Floyd has no members of his starting five back from last season’s Sweet 16 team.

Cyclone junior forward Klay Edwards led all scorers, racking up 20 points and shooting 80 percent from the field.

Edwards was the only ISU player in double figures, while Jerry Curry, Stevie Johnson and Marcus Fizer each added six points.

“Klay had one of the greatest games he’s played,” Floyd said. “He was outstanding on both ends of the floor for 37 minutes.”

Edwards also paced the Cyclones in rebounding, snagging 15 in the game and had a career-high with five blocked shots.

“This was a hard-fought game,” Edwards said. “Northern Iowa seemed to take control of the game when it counted the most. They have a lot of experience and knew what to do in a close game situation.”

Edwards said his team needs to improve both offensively and defensively to be competitive in conference play.

“[The Panthers] were getting easy baskets,” he said. “Not all five people were getting back on defense. We still need to get our freshman more comfortable on the court.”

Freshman Fizer and point guard Paris Corner started for the Cyclones, along with junior college transfer Delvin Washington.

Corner was 1-5 shooting in 20 minutes of play, while back-up point guard Lee Love played 18 minutes and had zero attempts.

ISU connected on only one three-pointer in the game, a rushed shot by Curry with 11 seconds left in the game.

“Our guard play has got to get better,” Floyd said. “We aren’t getting enough points and assists, while there are still too many turnovers being committed.

“We’re still trying to learn who we can trust shooting the ball with the lights on.”

Floyd was impressed with the perimeter defense of the Cyclones, which held UNI stand-out guards Tony Brus and Darian Devries to six and three points, respectively.

UNI was led by junior college transfer TyJuan Finley who racked up 13 points, while forwards Terry Cress and Chris Burdine each added 10 for the Panthers.

After the game, Miller said he has high expectations for the Panthers this season.

“The sky is the limit when you talk about effort with this team,” he said. “Every win is important, but this one was against a prestigious program. How many times has Northern Iowa beat Iowa State?”

To answer his question, it was only the Panthers’ fifth victory in 33 meetings between the intrastate rivals.

What made the win over the Cyclones even more surprising was that it came in Ames. It was only UNI’s second win ever on ISU turf in 22 games.