It turns out, Sunday’s game against Southern was exactly what Iowa State needed to get its groove back.

After a loss to Iowa filled with tension, scuffles and some bad basketball on the part of the Cyclones, Iowa State returned to its home confines of Hilton Coliseum and — apart from brief runs in the first and second halves from Southern — kept the Jaguars from being a part of the game, winning by a final score of 101-65 and setting records in the process.

After shooting 47 percent from the floor on Thursday in Iowa City, the Cyclones shot 72 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, starting out hot and putting the Jaguars on the back foot from the jump.

The aggressive start was exemplified by the fact that Southern never got within single digits of the Cyclones after the 6:11 mark of the first half, spending 26:11 of the game leading by double digits. The Cyclones put Southern away by sharing the ball, dishing out a season-high 28 assists on the team’s 40 made baskets.

For the whole game, the Cyclones shot 70.2 percent from the floor, the team’s best shooting percentage for a full game since they shot 74.4 percent against Georgia in the 2004 NIT.

The Cyclones had solid contributions from Marial Shayok, Talen Horton-Tucker and Terrence Lewis, who scored 26, 17 and 15 points on the night, respectively. Shayok scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half as the Cyclones extended their lead.

Southern isn’t the most impressive of opponents, having gone 2-8 on the year, but Prohm said the Cyclones responded well coming off of a frustrating loss.

Now, it’s about getting the four players Iowa State was missing for most of the season back into the swing of things.

“Good win, just to get back in the win column after the other night,” Prohm said. “We’ve got to find ways to get better and to slowly integrate these guys [Cam Lard, Zoran Talley Jr., Lindell Wigginton and Solomon Young].”

The Cyclones also received a record-setting performance from freshman guard Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton, who had a quiet game in Iowa City, went wild on Sunday, assisting on 17 baskets and only turning the ball over once. He added 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting and got two steals on the defensive end of the floor.

The 17 assists break a record set by Iowa State announcer and former Cyclone Eric Heft, who has 16 assists in a game on Feb. 5, 1974. Forty-four years later, the record fell. Heft was surprised it had taken so long, given the run of point guards to come through Hilton since his graduation.

“Monte [Morris] is still bitter he didn’t get it,” Heft said. “The record’s been there for way too long. It was a one-off.”

Haliburton said he told Heft he would break his assist record (eventually) when talking to him after the Iowa game.

But on Sunday, he found himself telling other people he was going to break the record against the Jaguars.

“I was just trying to share the ball,” Haliburton said. “The last couple, [Shayok] was standing up on the bench, standing up, yelling at me, ‘Five more! Four more!’”

Haliburton — who is quickly becoming a crowd favorite to Iowa State fans — wasn’t expected to play this much heading into the season, much less break a school record in his 10th game as a college player. But with Lindell Wigginton out, Haliburton was thrust into the starting lineup and he has been a player Prohm continues to praise.

“He’s just got something about him,” Prohm said of Haliburton. “That’s what he’s about though, man. He’s an awesome kid to coach.”

Iowa State now has six days before playing Drake in the final edition of the Hy-Vee Classic on Dec. 15.