AMES- Thank goodness for Aljaz Kunc.

If it wasn’t for his corner three with two and a half minutes remaining in the first half, the Cyclones would’ve had themselves an 0-20 night from downtown.

Still, 1-20 isn’t much better, and shooting at just a five percent clip isn’t going to get any team far. Iowa State was cold shooting the ball for most of the night, but the team won anyway.

How, you might ask?

Well, causing 23 turnovers will help. Shooting 50 percent on two-pointers didn’t hurt either. 

But more than that, it was the Cyclones seeming to not settle as much for three-pointers in the second half, and it resulted in a 68-60 to move T.J. Otzelberger and his squad to 3-0 this season.

“Tonight, the disappointing part for me was that our offensive shot-making wasn’t going the way we wanted.” Otzelberger said.

Otzelberger added that it contributed at times to the defensive lapses that helped Alabama State hang around until the very end. While the team did force the 23 turnovers, there were times where sloppy Iowa State offense led to easy finishes for the Hornets.

The shots weren’t falling for anyone in the first half. Alabama State shot 29 percent from the field through the first 20 minutes, and the Cyclones shot just 33 percent. The aforementioned threes weren’t falling, but the difference in the first and second halves were the closer, two-point shots.

In the second half, the Hornets shot an improved 56 percent from the field while the Cyclones improved to just 40 percent. They shot nine threes and missed them all in the second half, but their two-point percentage was 53 percent.

Add in the 11 of 13 half from the free-throw line, and Iowa State was able to gain some momentum by attacking the paint and either getting easier finishes or getting to the line.

“I’ve got to trust our guys to make the right play and the right shot when it presents itself,” Otzelberger said. “What we told our guys at halftime was ‘somebody’s got to be the one that gets in the paint for us.'”

That somebody was Tyrese Hunter on multiple occasions, and it led to a couple of easy dishes to Robert Jones as well as paint points for Hunter himself.

Hunter also was facing constant change when it came to what the defense was presenting. So far this season, it’s been a theme for the freshman, but his head coach thinks his young point guard is up to the challenge.

“Obviously, people are looking at us and saying ‘hey, they have a freshman point guard… let’s try and make them play against a lot of different things defensively.’ We’ve got all the trust and confidence in the world in Tyrese.”

Hunter had 19 total points and added six assists as well while committing just one turnover. Nine of the 19 points for Hunter came from the free-throw line, which showed he was making his presence felt in the paint much more than from long distance.

A good way to capture what led the Cyclones to eventual victory would be to dissect what happened with two minutes remaining in the game.

Izaiah Brockington, who had 23 points of his own, grabbed an offensive rebound, one of 13 he had on the day. He saw there was no one to contest him, so he threw in a dunk with some authority to get the Hilton faithful on their feet.

In the following possession, Hunter stole the ball from the Hornets and took it coast-to-coast for a ferocious dunk while being fouled to put the Cyclones up 61-53 late in the game.

It perfectly encapsulated what drove T.J. Otzelberger and his team to victory on a night when the shots weren’t falling: pressure the basketball and create easy shots that almost never miss.

Plus, Hunter wanted to feel included.

“When [Izaiah Brockington] got his I thought in my head, ‘It would be cool if I get one,’ so it came to me,” Hunter said about his thunderous dunk.

They were the two most important baskets on a night where the Cyclones were constantly searching for one. And now the Cyclones can continue to try, and stack wins in the early portion of the season.