ISU surges to 20

AMES - Hand-wringing reigned early.

The rim-rattling came late.

Iowa State kept 13,587 fans at Hilton Coliseum on the edge of their seats Wednesday night - uncomfortably at times, finally using a dunk-filled 17-2 run to close a 72-54 Big 12 win over last-place Texas Tech.

The main jam man: Royce White, who flushed three in the second half en route to a 13-point, 10-rebound, eight-assist performance.

“It's a piece (getting 20 wins),” White said. “You can't lose focus on what we want to do. We're still not there yet, as far as the goals we've set for ourselves. ... Our goals are much bigger than 20 wins.”

Melvin Ejim and Scott Christopherson scored 17 apiece to lead the Cyclones (20-8, 10-5), who rebounded from a lackluster first half in which they trailed by as many as nine points.

“We came out strong and we finished strong,” Ejim said.

The Red Raiders (8-19, 1-14) shot better, grabbed more rebounds and exhibited more hustle early, bolting to a 32-28 halftime lead.

They drained 8 of their first 10 shots - including 5 of 7 from 3-point range, but also coughed up 11 of their 17 turnovers.

Christopherson kept his team in it, going 3 of 5 from beyond the arc while scoring 12 points before the break.

The rest of ISU's players?

They went 1 of 8 from 3-point range and 6 of 19 overall in the first half.

But the second half followed the standings-based script.

The Cyclones, fueled in part by a full-court press early, sprang a 10-2 run on the Red Raiders, including a White layup and Allen 3-pointer to lead 38-34.

They trailed briefly again, but Tech went cold and managed just four points in the final 9:55 of the game.

“Tough game against a good team,” Tech Coach Billy Gillispie said. “We fought about as hard as we could fight.”

ISU handed the Red Raiders (8-19, 1-14) their ninth successive road defeat.

The Cyclones won the previous meeting in Lubbock, 76-52, and brought out the broom for the third time in conference play.

ISU also went 2-0 against Texas A&M and Oklahoma - and hadn't recorded multiple sweeps in a season since the 2000-01 team shut out four conference foes.

The Cyclones reached 20 wins for the first time since 2003-04 - and the same goes for hitting the 10 conference victory plateau.

A big road test at 12:30 p.m. Saturday looms at Kansas State.

The surging Wildcats (19-8, 8-7) sit in fifth - fresh off completing a sweep of top-five Missouri.

ISU is tied for third in the Big 12 with Baylor.

Bubu Palo saw his first minutes in nearly two months, providing some first-half energy.

Palo had been out with a fractured wrist.

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