Iowa State emphatically snaps Cy-Hawk men’s basketball skid with 73-53 win over Iowa

AMES — He dunked. He drove. He almost couldn’t miss.

Iowa State guard Izaiah Brockington’s performance in Thursday’s raucous and rollicking Cy-Hawk men’s basketball clash against Iowa defied description.

It was — from the No. 17 Cyclones’ perspective — nearly perfect.

Brockington drilled his first nine field goals attempts en route to a game-high 29 points and 10 rebounds as ISU blew out the Hawkeyes 73-53 before a sellout crowd at Hilton Coliseum.

“I just had it going,” Brockington said with a shrug after his team’s most lopsided win in Cy-Hawk series history. “Really wanted to beat them.”

Iowa State (9-0) snapped a three-game skid in the series and did it emphatically to add another unique chapter to their already-remarkable string of early-season success.

The Cyclones finished last season on an 18-game losing streak — and few expected this rapid and complete a turnaround.

Defense has fueled Iowa State’s quick rise back from also-ran status and the Cyclones shined on that end of the floor once again against the typically high-scoring and efficient Hawkeyes (7-3).

Iowa shot just 27 percent from the field and was held 37 points below its season scoring average.

“They did a really good job defensively being up into our space,” said Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery, whose team lost its third consecutive game but first in non-conference play. “Being physical. They were really, I think, locked in defensively and sometimes when that happens you tend to quick-shoot the ball.”

Keegan Murray — who entered Thursday’s game averaging 23.9 points — didn’t notch his first bucket until the 12:41 mark of the second half.

“He struggled early,” McCaffery said. “I was proud of him in the second half. He got a bunch of offensive rebounds. He got loose a little bit. Nothing came easy for him. They were locked into him. He’s got to understand he’s gonna be the primary guy on top of the scouting report every game. This is different from how it’s been for him in the past so he’s got to adjust to that.”

By the time Murray made his first basket, Iowa State had raced to a 52-31 lead and that advantage would swell to as many as 24 points down the stretch.

“The character and how they work every day came out in tonight’s game,” Cyclones coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “I’m just so proud of their daily habits and the work that they do. Nothing surprises me with this group because of how they play for each other. They care about each other — and every single day on that practice court they bring it.”

Cy-Hawk game veteran Jordan Bohannon led Iowa with 17 points. Murray and Tony Perkins added nine points apiece.

Iowa State freshman point guard Tyrese Hunter notched 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Cyclones while occasionally helping Brockington defend Murray.

“(We were) making them uncomfortable,” Hunter said. “When guys are comfortable they’re at their best. They get a rhythm going. And with us just coming out right away and meeting them — just letting them know we’re here and it’s not gonna be real easy tonight."

As for the atmosphere … it was rambunctious to say the least.

Iowa State’s student section peppered Bohannon with disparaging and occasionally profane chants. Bohannon — famously, or infamously depending on which side of this rivalry one resides — left his sneakers on the floor when Iowa won, 84-68, at Hilton two seasons ago. He didn’t expect to ever return, but the COVID-19 pandemic granted him another season of eligibility, so he found himself back in Ames one last time.

Very little of that return trip went well for Bohannon and the Hawkeyes, who trailed 38-26 at halftime and never found their bearings on either end of the court.

“I think they have a defensive identity that is working,” McCaffery said of Otzelberger’s Cyclones. “It’s creating offense with their defense. I think it’s brought a camaraderie with the group. They’re playing together and that’s, I think, what every coach wants.”

It’s what Brockington yearned for after transferring from Penn State. The Philadelphia native had played Iowa twice before. Both were losses. He scored 11 in last season’s setback. He scored zero points on 0-for-5 shooting two seasons ago.

But Thursday at Hilton Coliseum, he basked in that thing they call “magic” in Ames while posting his fourth double-double of the season — and his career.

“It was crazy,” said Brockington, who ended up 11-of-14 from the field. “It was crazy, the echo in there. The noise. You could feel the energy, really, right before the game started, just walking out there. You could feel the energy that the fans had.”