Petersen Leads Iowa State Past Centenary, 67-57

AMES, Iowa?Bryan Petersen scored a career-high 18 points and drilled four 3-pointers to lead Iowa State to a 67-57 win over Centenary in the championship game of the American Family Insurance Cyclone Challenge Saturday night in Hilton Coliseum.

"We have to play some guys in different positions, and they responded pretty well tonight," ISU head coach Greg McDermott said. "Right now, we are really counting on Bryan Petersen and Sean Haluska. We have to knock down some perimeter shots this year in order to be successful."

It was a great sign for Cyclone fans in the early going when Petersen drilled a trey on ISU's second possession. ISU had failed to make a trifecta for the first time in 63 games the night before, missing all 12 of its attempts from downtown. Petersen then added a backdoor lay-in off a Craig Brackins feed and nailed another bomb, scoring eight of ISU's first 10 points, as the Cyclones took a quick 10-0 lead.

The Cyclone defensive intensity was evident from the start. At the 11:46 mark in the first half, Centenary was 0-for-6 from the field and had six turnovers to fall behind 17-2. The Gents finally scored their first bucket on a Jerrald Bonham hook in the lane with 11:03 left in the half.

The Gents did heat up, shrinking a 19-point ISU lead to nine points (36-27) at the break. ISU shot 56.0 percent from the floor (14-25 FG) and held a 19-10 advantage on the glass, but 12 turnovers hurt the Cyclones in the opening period.

CC kept inching closer to the Cyclones in the second half. Tim Price hit a pair of turnarounds to cut the lead to 44-39 with 13:35 remaining. But Petersen came up big for ISU again, drilling a trey and stealing pass for a lay-in to push ISU back on top by 10 points (49-39) with 12:43 left.

The Gents still wouldn't go away, cutting the lead back down to six points (57-51). However, a Hubalek shot in the paint and Petersen's fourth trey of the game gave the Cyclones a 62-51 lead with 4:45 left which allowed ISU to rest comfortably the rest of the way.

ISU controlled the boards throughout the game, out rebounding the smaller Gents, 37-23. The Cyclones out boarded their two Cyclone Challenge opponents, 75-57. Tyrone Hamilton led CC with 17 points. Brackins finished the game with double figures for the second game in a row, tallying 16 points and a team-high eight boards. Brackins was named MVP of the tournament, averaging 14.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in the two games. Petersen also earned all-tournament honors for the Cyclones.

ISU shot above 50 percent from the field (57.1 percent) for the first time in 26 games, but committed 23 turnovers.

Iowa State hits the road for the first time on Wednesday (Nov. 14), traveling to Peoria, Ill., to face the Bradley Braves at 7 p.m.

Game Notes
- ISU is now 26-2 in the 13 years of the Cyclone Challenge.
- ISU has won 11 of the 13 Cyclone Challenges.
- ISU remains unbeaten against Summit League opponents, holding a 16-0 all-time record against Summit League opponents.
- ISU out boarded its two opponents in the tournament by a 48-34 margin.
- ISU head coach Greg McDermott is 7-0 in home November games in his career.
- Bryan Petersen scored a career-high 18 points
- ISU shot above 50 percent from the field (57.1 percent) for the first time since shooting 53.3 percent against Lake Superior State (11-25-06), ending a span of 26 games of not reaching the 50 percent mark.
- ISU recorded its 399^th win in Hilton Coliseum.
- The Cyclones committed 23 turnovers in the game.

2007 American Family Insurance All-Tournament Team

Bryan Petersen, Iowa State

Nick Stallings, Centenary

Eddie Ard, Lipscomb

Brian Fisher, Winston-Salem State

Tyrone Hamilton, Centenary

MVP- Craig Brackins, Iowa State

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Team Stats

Bryan Petersen

Craig Brackins

Jiri Hubalek

Rahshon Clark

Players Mentioned

Craig Brackins

Sean Haluska

Bryan Petersen

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