Iowa State pushed past Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday night for its ninth-straight win. Here are three takeaways from the game.

Injuries continue to pile up

Iowa State knew it would be without Zoran Talley Jr. and Jakolby Long for the game, but hours before tip-off, it was announced that senior forward Hans Brase would miss the game as well.

Brase missed the first two games of the season while he recovered from his second torn ACL. He’s averaging four points and 5.4 rebounds per game this season.

Long, who suffered a concussion in practice nearly a month ago, missed his third consecutive game on Wednesday.

Long has been doing non-contact drills in practice lately, but has not been able to play in games.

“They’ll evaluate him with the concussion protocol when he gets back,” said coach Steve Prohm.

Playing with just seven against Maryland Eastern Shore turned out to be a chore for the Cyclones. Iowa State opened up a 17-point lead at halftime, but was unable to extend the lead much beyond that. The Hawks rallied late in the game to close the deficit to just six points.

Some of the second-half problems may have been due to only having seven healthy players.

“I think we just got to be locked in more,” said senior guard Donovan Jackson. “A lot of the time last year I think we played seven people so I’m kinda used to it. A lot of teams are doing it. I don’t think it’s a big drop-off.”

Jackson also complimented Brase, saying “he’s very good for us.” But to Jackson’s point, having seven players shouldn’t hurt the team that much. The Hawks played just eight, and one of those eight played only six minutes.

Offense struggled in second half

The Cyclone offense was sluggish all night.

After starting 4-for-4 from the field, the Cyclone offense faltered and couldn’t get into a rhythm the rest of the game.

Freshman guard Lindell Wigginton scored four points in the first three minutes of the game. He finished with just five points on 2-of-10 shooting.

Iowa State finished 23-of-51 (45.1 percent) but the team scored a season-low 55 points and earned just 0.833 points per possession against a Maryland Eastern Shore defense that is ranked as one of the nation’s worst.

“No excuses really for how we competed and played tonight,” Prohm said. “It’s on all of us.”

In the second half, Iowa State had more turnovers (11) than made shots (nine).

Nine-game winning streak

Even though the game wasn’t pretty, Iowa State earned its ninth-straight win. That ties the beginning of the 2015-16 season for the longest win streak in the Steve Prohm era.

“We’re fortunate to get the win,” Prohm said. “Don’t devalue winning.”

Iowa State knew it might not have 100 percent focus for this game, since the players left for home after the game and there wasn’t much of a crowd in attendance at Hilton Coliseum.

Nevertheless, Iowa State walked away with a win. That’s the key for a team that has postseason aspirations.

“They’ve put themselves, after the end of the non-conference season … to where if we can hold serve in the Big 12, we’ll have an opportunity to play in March,” Prohm said. “That’s our goal. That’s been our goal since day one.”