Iowa State, led by senior center Kelvin Cato’s 21 points and 13 rebounds, pounded intrastate rival Drake Wednesday night by a final of 74-50.

Although it was at his team’s expense, Drake Head Basketball Coach Kurt Kanaskie liked what he saw in the ISUcenter.

“I was really impressed with Cato’s performance. I had not seen him play before in person, but I was really impressed with his athletic ability. He was taller than I thought. That is one of the things that film can hide from you,” he said.

Cato, who has been absent from the starting lineup, received praise from ISU Head Basketball Coach Tim Floyd.

“We got tremendous play form Kelvin Cato. He was a tremendous presence inside and he seems to have developed a go-to move. That’s very pleasing. We’ve spent a lot of time on that and he’s spent a lot of time on that and he seems to be much more comfortable on that end,” Floyd said.

Cyclone senior forward Shawn Bankhead, who finished with eight points and five rebounds, was also quick to commend Cato on his performance.

“I loved it. I love to see Cato play like that. He was in double digits in points and rebounds. He had a good night,” Bankhead said.

Bankhead also spoke on how Cato’s efforts will make the sixth-ranked Cyclones an even better team.

“That just opens more up for us. Teams will have to look at him and figure out how to stop him. That attention will just open things up for us. Hopefully he can continue to do what he did tonight,” Bankhead said.

While Cato’s performance spoke out loud, the silent Bulldog killer was the Cyclone defense.

ISU, which led at halftime by a score of 38-23, shut the Drake offense down in the first 8:20 of the second half.

The Cyclones went on a 16-4 run to begin the second half of play to seal the victory.

“I was very pleased with the win. I thought our defensive effort was outstanding. Our interior defense was solid,” Floyd said.

Senior forward Dedric Willoughby, who finished the game with seven points, was a game-time decision to start the game. Willoughby had been suffering from a pulled hamstring.

“We had no intentions of playing Dedric Willoughby, but our trainer said that he thought he was 100 percent. He hadn’t practiced in the last four days,” Floyd said.

The decision came as a pleasant surprise to Willoughby.

“I just got here and went up with the trainer and started running around. He said I looked fine. Then Coach Floyd came up to me and said I was going to start,” Willoughby said.

But things got worse for Willoughby in the first half. After a short move to the basket and a completed layup, Willoughby took a hard fall to the floor injuring his left wrist.

“It hurts. It’s killing me right now, but I’ll be at the doctor’s at eight in the morning to get my treatments,” Willoughby said. “I don’t think it’s broke. I think I’ll be alright. Right now, I think it’s just a sprain.”

Floyd shared Willoughby’s opinion that the injury wasn’t serious, but will wait for the x-rays before making any kind of assumption.

“We have a concern with Dedric Willoughby’s wrist. They are going to x-ray it tomorrow. We think he’ll be okay, but we won’t know until we get the results,” Floyd said.

ISU senior point guard Jacy Holloway, who finished the game with six points and six assists, saw limited action in the win.

“Jacy Holloway was out yesterday with the flu, that’s why we limited his minutes to 19 minutes. I thought he had a great floor game, getting us into play. Overall it was a very good effort,” Floyd said.