Garrett?s Runner Lifts ISU Past UC Davis, 61-58

Friday, November 14

Ames, Iowa

7:00 PM

Iowa State

1-0

UC Davis (World Vision Classic)

0-1

Team	1	2	F
UC Davis	20	38	58
Iowa State	25	36	61

Garrett?s Runner Lifts ISU Past UC Davis, 61-58

11.14.2008 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa ?Diante Garrett's basket with 0:11 left gave ISU its first lead since the 18:35 mark of the second half, as Iowa State battled back from a 14-point second-half deficit and overcame an eight-point margin with less then three minutes remaining to down UC Davis, 61-58, Friday night in Hilton Coliseum in the first round of the World Vision Classic.

"We grew up a lot tonight," ISU head coach Greg McDermott said. "We we were going to grow up a lot no matter if we won or lost, but it feels better after a win."

Complete Post-Event Coverage
Final Stats Notes Newsconference First Half Replay Second Half Replay		Quotes Photo Album UWM 75, LMU 51

It was a close game early, as the Cyclones had to endure foul problems right from the start. ISU's top post player Craig Brackins picked up his second foul with 18:12 left in the first half, giving him a seat on the bench for the rest of the period.

UCD received back-to-back 3-pointers from Adam Malik and Joe Harden to go up 12-8 with 11:49 left in the first half. The Cyclones were ice cold on offense, making just 3-of-13 shots to begin the game. A dunk by Justin Hamilton cut the lead to 12-10 and ended a six-minute Cyclone scoring drought.

ISU retook the lead with a Lucca Staiger baseline jumper at the 6:20 mark (16-15) which drew a loud roar from the Hilton crowd. Staiger, who sat out last season after being ruled ineligible by the NCAA Certification Process, was seeing his first action in his long-anticipated Cyclone debut.

The Cyclones held a five-point lead at 21-16 after a Jamie Vanderbeken 3-pointer, but the Aggies scored four-straight points to close the gap to 21-20 with 2:14 left before intermission. The Cyclones went into the break with a 25-20 lead after a pair of buckets from Sean Haluska and Vanderbeken. The Cyclones forced 12 turnovers and held the Aggies to 23.1 percent in the opening period.

The Aggies jumped on the Cyclones with a 14-2 run to begin the second period. Kyle Brucculeri and Dominic Calegari both connected from long range and Harden scored a pair of baskets to push UCD out in front 34-27 at the 15:37 mark.

The Aggie lead increased to 14 points (45-31) with 11:43 left in the game, as Harden buried three treys in an 11-2 Aggie run. The large deficit quickly evaporated, however. The Cyclones scored 11 consecutive points in just under two minutes behind a trio of 3-pointers from Vanderbeken, Haluska and Wes Eikmeier to close the gap to 45-42 with 10:01 minutes left in the game.

The Aggies increased their lead to 52-45 on a Vince Oliver lay-in with 4:20 left after both teams traded baskets for a number of possessions. The Aggie lead was at eight points (54-46) after a Mark Payne lay-in, but ISU rattled off seven-straight points behind an Eikmeier trey and a Brackins turnaround to make it 54-53 with 1:31 left.

Both teams traded baskets before Oliver made a pair of free-throws with 0:36 left to give the Aggies a 58-55 lead. Brackins quickly got a dunk on the other end to cut the lead to one-point then ISU promptly fouled Oliver again with 0:20 left. This time Oliver missed the one-and-one and the Cyclones got the rebound setting up Garrett's basket with 0:11 seconds left. Oliver then missed a trey and Vanderbeken got the board and was fouled with 0:03 left. Vanderbeken then sank both free-throws to give ISU a 61-58 lead.

The Aggies had one more chance to tie, but Payne's 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.

"Diante is hard to guard," McDermott said about his point guard. "He's shifty with the ball. He is really growing up as a point guard and I was really proud of him tonight."

Vanderbeken led ISU in his debut with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 boards. Brackins finished with 12 points and Eikmeier ended the game with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.

ISU plays in the second round of the World Vision Classic tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. vs. Loyola-Marymount.