Iowa State Overwhelms Howard, 96-62

AMES, Iowa (AP) - Rahshon Clark scored 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting, freshman Shawn Taggart added 15 and Iowa State rolled to a 96-62 victory against overmatched Howard on Friday night.

Iowa State (3-0) dominated the second-round game in its own Cyclone Challenge with aggressive defense and sharp shooting - 67.7 percent in the first half and 58 percent for the game. Howard (0-2) never recovered after making just six of 21 shots in the opening half.

The Cyclones led by 37 at halftime and cruised through the second half when the only question was whether coach Wayne Morgan would leave his regulars in long enough for Iowa State to score 100. He didn't.

Jiri Hubalek shot 6-for-7 and finished with 14 points for Iowa State, Anthony Davis scored 12 and Will Blalock 11. Curtis Stinson, who had averaged 28 points in the first two games, scored seven in this one, but it hardly mattered.

Iowa State forced 24 turnovers with its press and trapping zone defense and converted many of them into easy baskets. Howard rarely penetrated the zone so when the Bison did get a shot, they usually were casting one up from the perimeter.

Darek Mitchell and Darryl Hudson led Howard with 13 points apiece.

Iowa State, meanwhile, was sharp from the start. The Cyclones made nine of their first 11 shots in racing to a 25-9 lead and even found their touch on 3-pointers. They were 7-for-34 from 3-point range coming in but made four of their first five from beyond the arc, all in the first six minutes.

After that, the Cyclones got so many close-in shots against their shorter defenders that they had no need to take the ball outside.

During a 26-3 run that stretched the lead to 40-11, Iowa State got six of its eight baskets in the paint. Taggart had two dunks in that spurt, the first on a nifty behind-the-back pass from Blalock.

It only got worse for Howard. Blalock converted a three-point play on a double-pump layup to make it 45-13 and Ross Marsden scored on a give-and-go with Stinson for a 49-13 lead. At that point, Howard had 15 turnovers and five baskets.

The Cyclones led 55-18 at halftime and the lead was never below 28 in the second half, even after Iowa State backed off its press.

The round-robin event ends Saturday night with Iowa State playing Iona and Howard meeting Portland State. Iona beat Portland State 81-75 earlier Friday.

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Team Stats

Rahshon Clark

Shawn Taggart

Jiri Hubalek

Anthony Davis

Players Mentioned

Will Blalock

Will Blalock

Rahshon Clark

Rahshon Clark

Anthony Davis

Anthony Davis

Jiri Hubalek

Ross Marsden

Curtis Stinson

Curtis Stinson

Shawn Taggart

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Iowa State University Athletics