Although Iowa State got off to a shaky start, the Cyclones avenged their Jan. 18, 45-70 loss to Colorado by downing the Buffaloes Wednesday night with a final score of 65-54.

“That looked more like an Iowa State win. We got back to the line 29 times. We didn’t turn it over much. I really think that was the difference,” ISU Head Basketball Coach Tim Floyd said.

The Cyclones went head-to-head with Colorado in the first half, despite ISU senior forward and leading scorer Dedric Willoughby, who finished the game with 13 points, racking up only four points in the first half.

ISU was also outrebounded 23-15 in the first half of play.

With 6:53 left in the first half, Iowa State capitalized on a barrage of Colorado missed buckets to take a five point lead at 23-18 with 8:10.

“We went back out the second half and hit the boards harder. They totally dominated the boards in the first half,” Floyd said.

“I thought Pratt had a great second half, both offensively and on the glass.”

That lead wouldn’t last long as the Buffaloes clawed their way back.

A three-pointer by Martice Moore knotted it up for Colorado at 23-23 with 5:17

The Cyclones also received help from their bench with sophomore center Tony Rampton adding a couple of points and playing some solid defense.

With a little help from sophomore center Tony Rampton and sophomore forward Klay Edwards, the Cyclones slowly creeped ahead at the half, 31-29.

Rampton added four points in the first half, while Edwards chipped in with three.

Senior forward Kenny Pratt, who finished with 19 points, led ISU with seven points at the break.

It was a different story the second half as ISU came out gunning. The Cyclones, backed by the early hot shooting of Shawn Bankhead, built a 43-35 lead at 15:01 in the second half. Bankhead finished the game with 10 points.

The steady defense continued as ISU shut the Colorado offense down for just over three minutes.

“I thought that this was a great defensive effort. To hold a team like Colorado to 54 points, that’s pretty good,” Floyd said. “They’re a great ball club.”

The lead increased as Holloway went to the hole and was fouled hard with 14:42 left.

The foul resulted in Holloway crashing into the referee. After the wreckage was cleared, Holloway nailed two free throws to give the Cyclones a 45-35 lead with 14:20 left in regulation.

Then the showdown began between Willoughby and Colorado sophomore sensation Chauncey Billups. Billups ended the scoring draught with a 15-footer.

Willoughby answered with a three-pointer only to have Billups return the favor the very next trip down the court, bringing the score to 47-40 with 12:42 left.

Holloway then took his hand at the three-point barrage and nailed a trey from the corner to bring the score to 50-40 with 12:01 left.

The next run the Buffaloes would make would come of a Billups steal and short jumper. Billups then answered off the missed Pratt three-pointer by nailing two free throws to bring the score to 48-56 with 3:42 left.

Again it was a short jumper off the hot hand of Bankhead that would push the lead back to 58-48 with 2:30 left to play.

The Cyclones then settled down and ran the clock.

When the final buzzer had sounded, it was ISU: 65, Colorado: 54.

The win was the last home game in which seniors Willoughby, Holloway, Bankhead, Cato, Pratt and Ha-Keem Abdel-Khaliq will participate. Each received a standing ovation as well as a post-game senior ceremony.

The Cyclones next travel to Oklahoma State on Saturday to wrap up the regular season.