King Royce had regal presence for Cyclones Friday night

AMES - Sure, Fred Hoiberg could afford to be generous Friday night, but he sounded totally sincere when he portrayed Iowa's men's basketball team as something much more than a hopeless case.

"Fran (McCaffery) is a great coach," Iowa State's coach said. "I think he'll do a terrific job for a number of years. It's a matter of time before this (season's) team turns it on.

"Hopefully we will have a great rivalry for years to come. You look at the recruiting class he's brought in (for next season), and I'm very proud of our recruiting class."

Hoiberg's first recruiting class - that included transfers/current starters Royce White, Chris Allen and Chris Babb - turned it on Friday in Hilton Coliseum as the Cyclones picked up an 86-76 win over their state-rivals. ISU built a 48-27 lead after playing its best half of the season, and no one could accuse the officiating of tilting heavily toward the Hawkeyes' opponent.

The nonconference portion of the season has been bumpy enough for both teams, so how about if we accentuate the positives of this game? Obviously, ISU had more of those, but there were things to like from each side. Like:

Iowa State: Start with White, the 6-foot-8, 270-pounder who plays like ISU's version of LeBron James. I'm not talking skill level, of course. But White has a Jamesian skill set. He broke down defenders in multiple ways Friday. He brought the ball downcourt with aplomb. He leads his team this season not only in points and rebounds, but assists.

White picked on one overmatched Hawkeye after another in the first-half. A neat trick for college coaches is to get themselves a Royce White.

"He's got so many points to his game," McCaffery said. "He's big and strong, he can go in and out. ... He's just so powerful."

And he even befuddled the Hawkeyes by sticking jump shots in his 14-point first-half. King Royce, at least this night.

Iowa: Roy Devyn Marble not only again answered the bell and played a lot of point guard because Bryce Cartwright is still hamstrung by a bad hamstring, but he played it without fear. He put the Hawkeye on his shoulders.

Marble scored 21 points, made 10 of 11 free throws, and had five assists to a mere two turnovers in 37 minutes. Iowa desperately needs players who can create their own shots, to use the basketball cliche, and Marble is doing that.

"He had a great game," McCaffery said. "He's a player."

Iowa State: Senior guard Scott Christopherson had struggled recently, to put it mildly. He made just one basket in both of ISU's previous two games.

"I've been playing like garbage lately," Christopherson said.

But he had 16 points and six baskets Friday. Three of those scores were on 3-pointers. The other three were 2-point baskets off penetration, all coming within a 90-second stretch of the game's last seven minutes. That, from someone from someone who has made more threes than twos in his ISU career.

"He was finishing his shot in the lane when Iowa was making its run," Hoiberg said.

Iowa: Melsahn Basabe isn't all the way back to his freshman-season form, but the soph forward seems to be getting there. McCaffery praised Basabe's offensive effort, but added "He's got to block some shots for us. He didn't present the defensive presence I know he can be."

But after an extended funk, Basabe did have 18 points and 9 rebounds, and played hard. It's definitely a start.

OK, this was basically the consolation game of this season's in-state tournament. And the pieces still don't all fit quite right for either team. It's easier advice to give Cyclone fans right now, but keep hope alive.