Unbeaten Cyclones keep focus off rankings

Rory Flaherty

Iowa State had their first road game and their sixth straight win against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday night, 81-74.

This was the second time in three years that the Cyclones have gone to Carver Hawkeye Arena for a win.

“It is very tough to come in here and get a win, from what I have heard in the past. But that’s two for me and Iowa State in the last three years,” said ISU point guard Jacy Holloway on his second win against the Hawkeyes at Carver Hawkeye Arena.

The Cyclones put the first points on the board, with a jump shot by Shawn Bankhead two and a half minutes into the game. The Cyclones had the lead throughout the game, with the exception of a two-point deficit about six minutes into the game.

It was at that point that Iowa State Head Coach Tim Floyd earned himself a technical foul — just the motivation that the Cyclones needed to get back into the game.

“I did? That’s good,” Bankhead said upon hearing that he matched his career high 23 points in the game.

“I felt that I was just taking my time with my jump shot. They were leaving me open out there, so basically what I did was take my time to spot up and shoot.”

Bankhead rose to meet the challenge of the Hawks, shooting 10-of-14 in his 31 minutes of play.

“We wanted to go out and win our first road game,” Bankhead said.

“We were practicing hard for this game, and we came out and played hard, and it got us a victory on the road.”

Dedric Willoughby put 15 points on the board with 5-of-9 shooting, having only played 26 minutes after developing an ankle injury in the first half.

Holloway was one minute shy of being on the floor for the entire game, adding 14 points to the team total, and making nine assists.

Kelvin Cato led the team in blocks with four, and added nine points, shooting 4-of-7 before fouling out in the last minute of the game, and Klay Edwards had the team high in rebounds with eight.

The Hawkeye’s biggest threat to the Cyclones was their six-foot senior, Andre Woolridge.

“Woolridge is a great player,” Cato said. “He shocked me because I didn’t think he had the kind of drive that he had, and he showed us that he can hit the jumper.”

Shawn Bankhead was given the arduous task of controlling the Hawkeyes’ leading scorer.

“Shawn had a great game, scoring wise and rebounding wise,” Holloway said.

“And defensively, he really had to step it up against Woolridge, who was doing most of their scoring, and I think that he did a great job. Shawn was a spark for us.”

Floyd had one simple instruction, according to Bankhead. “Coach wanted me to go out there and contain [Woolridge] and slow him down.”

Andre Woolridge led the Hawkeyes with his 25 points, shooting 8-of-20, and made five assists, playing 38 minutes of the game. Ryan Bowen added 18 points with 4-of-7 shooting, and had two blocks.

Although this win will probably elevate the Cyclone’s standing in the rankings, Coach Floyd doesn’t want it to go to the player’s heads.

“We don’t even look at that,” Cato said.

“We talk about it among ourselves, but to the coach, there are not any rankings, we just play basketball.”