Kelvin Cato and his 18 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocked shots helped lift ISU to a 54-48 victory over Kansas State to end a two- game skid for the Cyclones.

“We felt like that was a great win for us. We knew we were going to win, it would of had to be an ugly win,” ISU Head Basketball Coach Tim Floyd said.

“We were behind six boards at half time, but Kelvin went out and controlled the boards. This may have been his best game since he’s been here,” Floyd said.

ISU, with an unusual starting lineup of Jacy Holloway, Tony Rampton, Shawn Bankhead, Brad Johnson and Klay Edwards, fell behind Kansas State by a score of 11-3 before usual starters Kelvin Cato and Kenny Pratt entered the game.

After falling behind 13-3 with 11:53 left in the first half, Iowa State took a timeout to regroup.

Cyclone senior forward Shawn Bankhead answered with a 13-foot jump shoot from the corner to bring the score to 13-5. ISU then turned up the defense and mounted its early comeback. Kenny Pratt answered with a jumper to bring the score to 13-7. Two consecutive steals by Cyclone senior guard Jacy Holloway went for naught as the Cyclones couldn’t convert.

Then ISU went cold, missing its next seven shot attempts as the Wildcats built a 20-9 lead with 5:40 left in the first half.

The Cyclones finally got back on the board with a Bankhead free throw with 5:34.

Bankhead missed his second shot from the charity stripe but had it followed up by a Pratt layup to bring the score to 12-20. A thunderous Cato dunk brought the Hilton fans to their feet as the Cyclones edged closer at 14-20.

ISU junior forward Brad Johnson followed Cato’s dunk up by registering his first steal of the night that resulted in a Pratt free throw to bring the score to 15-20 with 4:23 left in the half.

After Kansas State answered with a short jumper, Holloway was fouled on a three-pointer. Holloway connected on all three attempts to bring the score to 18-22 with 4:10 left in the half.

A dunk by Cato with 16 seconds left in the game brought the Cyclones to a 22-24 halftime score.

“We have to understand that as long as we have Willoughby out, we’re not going to score like we did, so we have to hold the other teams down. Then we can get some wins down this stretch,” Floyd said.

The second half see-saw continued until the Wildcats pulled ahead to a four-point lead with 13:04 left in the game. The Cyclones answered with a Bankhead jumper with 12:20 to pull within two points at 33-31. But Kansas State’s sophomore forward Shawn Rhodes hit a three-pointer to bring the score to 36-31 with 11:17.

A stiff defensive surge and a lot of hustle brought ISU back to tie the game on an Edwards jumper to tie the game at 36.

Cato, who registered two big-time blocks within a minute, brought the fans to their feet with his third block of the half that resulted in a Bankhead layup to tie the game at 38. Cato did more than answer on the offensive end with two consecutive hook shots to take the lead at 42-40 with 5:40.

“I saw him very active on the boards. He really was active and went after it,” Floyd said. It was again the Cato show with a monster dunk to ignite the crowd and send the Cyclones up four points at 44-40 with 4:43 left to go.

Bankhead stretched the lead to six points with a short jumper to bring the tally to 46-40. Then Edwards rebounded a Wildcat miss hustled down the court in time to chip in a bucket while getting fouled.

Edwards converted on the free throw to bring the score to 49-40 with 3:21 left in the game.

“I thought that Jacy Holloway and Klay Edwards played with a lot of heart. Jacy had 11 rebounds. To me that is the most impressive stat. I’ve never had a point guard go out and get 11 rebounds,” Floyd said.

But Kansas State shrunk that lead to one point with a quick bucket and consecutive three-pointers by Wildcat sophomore guard Ayome May to bring the score to 48-49.

Edwards answered with a jumper to bring the score to 51-48 with just over a minute left.

Kansas State called timeout with 42 seconds showing on the clock.

Rhodes missed a jumper that was hauled in by Cato, who in return was fouled and sunk both free throws to bring the score to 53-48. A missed three-pointer by the Wildcats was hauled in by Cato, who was again sent to the line. Cato converted one of two to bring the final score to 54-48.

The Cyclones (12-3, 3-2) will do battle next with Texas Tech.