Royce White's near triple double doesn't impress him

AMES - Iowa State's Royce White scanned the stat sheet and shook his head.

The multi-talented 6-8, 270-pound forward narrowly missed his second triple-double of the Big 12 season in the Cyclones' deceptively lopsided 72-54 win over last-place Texas Tech.

Good game, right?

“I don't think I was on the offensive track at all,” said White, who scored 13 points, snared 10 rebounds and rifled eight assists before a crowd of 13,587 at Hilton Coliseum. “The way I shot free throws was inexcusable. I was able to get some easy baskets that my teammates created for me - some easy dunks and some stuff on the break. But I'm still looking to get back on track, but getting that 20th win was huge for us.”

ISU improved to 20-8 overall and 10-5 in conference play.

They reached the 20-win plateau in the regular season for the first time since 2002, and the 10-win league benchmark for the first time since 2004.

“It's a piece,” White said of the 20 and 10 numbers. “We can't lose focus of what we want to do. We're still not there yet, as far as the goals we've set forward. I'm just really happy for coach to have his first 20-win season in his second year. I'm just glad I could be a part of that. But we know that we've got to stay focused and our goals are much bigger than 20 wins and to reach those goals is going to be real tough, real tough. Great teams in this conference the last three.”

Those teams - fifth-place but peaking Kansas State, second-place Missouri and third-place Baylor have handed the Cyclones - who are tied with the Bears in the standings - two of their five conference losses.

ISU beat the Wildcats (19-8, 8-7) 72-70 on a last-second running jumper by White on Jan. 31 at Hilton Coliseum.

Tip is set for 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Manhattan, Kan.

“There's a lot of work in front of us,” said Cyclone coach Fred Hoiberg, who generally eschews milestone musings. “I agree with those guys the the 10 conference wins are very important. And also where we are in the standings. But we've also got some work in front of us. We've got three very difficult games.”

Wednesday's proved nettlesome, too.

The Red Raiders (8-19, 1-14) led by as many as nine points in the first half while shooting 57 percent from the field.

ISU held just a three-point lead, at 55-52, with 7:58 left before embarking on a decisive 17-2 run to close the game.

Cyclone forward Melvin Ejim scored 10 of his game high-tying 17 points down the stretch.

He's been bothered by a sore shoulder, but didn't show it.

“He's going to bring it,” Hoiberg said of Ejim, who was also one game removed from being ejected for a flagrant foul in Saturday's win over Oklahoma. “If he was too sore to play he would have let us know. But he said, ‘Hey, coach, I'm ready. I'll give you anything you want,' and he sure went out and proved it - especially in that second half.”

ISU guard Scott Christopherson also scored 17 points, but 12 of his came before the break while his teammates struggled to convert many points.

“He did hit a couple big threes that kept us in the game and kept the lead from getting away from us,” Ejim said.

Hoiberg credited Chris Babb's defense for shutting out Tech's Ty Nurse in the second half.

Nurse went for 15 before the break.

Super sub Tyrus McGee scored all five of his points during the late run - including a crowd-pleasing putback dunk over ... White.

“That was pretty impressive,” Hoiberg said. “He came out of nowhere. I thought Royce was going to tip it in and then Tyrus came out of nowhere and threw it down. He does, he brings it, flying into the crowd, getting his hands on balls.”

As for White's self-critique, Hoiberg offered a differing view.

“I don't think he played a bad game,” he said of White, who shot 3 of 9 from the free throw line. “I think he was very effective, especially those last eight minutes when he was controlling the glass. He was getting out, pushing the ball. He's such a key to our transition game.”

Note: Embedded video courtesy Cyclones.com.