In its 76-66 win over No. 16 Seton Hall on Sunday, Iowa State had plenty to be happy about after getting revenge on the team that beat it nine days earlier in the Battle 4 Atlantis. 

While Iowa State had some positives when it came to stopping Myles Powell and gaining confidence in its win, a poor first half on offense also stood out.

Ugly first half of basketball

To say the least, the first half between Seton Hall and Iowa State wasn’t great basketball.

The two teams combined for 18 turnovers, shot 21-68 from the field and 6-27 from three-point range.

Iowa State was 11-35 from the floor and 2-12 from three, but they ended the half hitting four of their last five shots to take a 28-26 lead.

Head coach Steve Prohm said Iowa State struggled down low with the Seton Hall post players, which forced players into thinking they needed to take contested shots.

Prohm said the Cyclones looked passive in the first half and were taking bad shots left and right.

“When is the last time we have beaten a top-16 team and shot 38 percent and 21 percent from three, how awesome is that?” Prohm said.

Against a team like Seton Hall, Prohm said that the ball needs to move side to side constantly to create gaps down low so the big men are off balance. Prohm said Seton Hall forced Iowa State to play in front in the first half because of the length and physicality they bring.

Two starters struggled to put the ball in the basket in the first half, as Rasir Bolton was 1-5 from the floor with two points and Michael Jacobson was 1-5 with three points.

It wasn’t all ugly for the Cyclones in the first half though, as George Conditt led the team at the half with 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks.

Prentiss Nixon said Conditt brought great energy off the bench in the first half, a boost the Cyclones needed during the offensive struggles.

Nixon knows Conditt affects the game in many different ways, making him a great asset to have come off the bench.

“He’s a game changer for sure,” Nixon said.

Shutting down Myles Powell

Coming into Sunday’s matchup, Iowa State knew stopping Myles Powell would be top priority.

In the Battle 4 Atlantis, Powell scored 24 points on the Cyclones — 19 of which came in the second half.

Come Sunday night, Powell was much less effective from the floor.

While he did finish with 19 points, he took 20 shots to get there. He finished 7-20 from the field. Powell shot 4-11 in the second half.

The primary defender on Powell was Prentiss Nixon.

Nixon has prided himself this season on being a defensive leader for the young Cyclones, and it showed up against the Pirates on Sunday.

Nixon said Iowa State did a good job of crashing the lane if Powell attempted to drive toward the basket, which made his vision crowded if he wanted to kick it out.

However, Nixon did not want to take the credit for shutting down Powell’s offense. Instead, he saw it as a team effort and a team victory.

“I think the team did a great job on Myles Powell tonight,” Nixon said.

Nixon saw Powell was forced to take tough shots throughout the night and was made to jump when the defensive pressure became too much to get past.

Prohm said it wasn’t just Nixon that left Powell inefficient; rather, Iowa State had to defend as a committee and deny every ball screen Powell would get.

However, Prohm said it all starts with the Colorado State transfer and the intensity he brings.

“He’s our heartbeat defensively on the ball,” Prohm said.

Confidence boost

With losses to Oregon State, Michigan and Seton Hall before Sunday’s game, Iowa State needed a confidence boost.

Prohm said that he had been hearing rumblings from the outside that Iowa State was a “soft” team. Prohm said he knew this team needed to prove the outsiders wrong and provide his team with a big moral boost before taking on Iowa on Thursday.

“We hadn’t won a game like that, against a legit-legit team, and we did tonight and hopefully that gives our guys great confidence going forward,” Prohm said. “We needed a confidence win.”

Haliburton agreed with his head coach. He said Iowa State wanted to defend home court against a team that not only got the best of them the first time, but also was another ranked opponent.

Defending Hilton Coliseum was a priority for this year’s team, especially for Haliburton, after the Cyclones went 12-4 at Hilton just a season ago.

“Every good team has to have a signature win and this was the first one for us,” Haliburton said. “It felt really good to beat a ranked team but also a team that beat us before.”