Brackins' Double-Double Lifts ISU Past Huskies

AMES, Iowa ?Craig Brackins recorded 22 points, 16 rebounds and a career-high five blocks to pace Iowa State to a 64-56 victory over Houston Baptist Tuesday night in Hilton Coliseum. ISU, which finishes its non-conference record at 11-4, held HBU to 32.9 percent shooting from the field en route to the victory.

"Offensively, it wasn't there tonight," said ISU head coach Greg McDermott. "We were a step slow from the start of the game. We were very lethargic, but we won. That might be a good thing, because I will have their attention tomorrow."

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There wasn't much offense in the first half, as ISU held a slim 24-22 lead at the break. The Cyclones made just 31.0 percent of their shots from the floor, while the Huskies hit just 29.4 of their shots in the opening period.

ISU forged its largest lead in the first half at 24-17 with 3:26 left after Brackins scored four-straight points. HBU's Sean Morris then hit a trey followed by a Baron Sauls 15-foot jumper to close out the first-half scoring. Brackins posted a double-double in the first half for the second time this season, tallying 12 points and 11 boards. Brackins had 15 points and 11 boards in the opening period at Houston.

The Cyclones finally started to heat up, making 8-of-their-first-12 shots to begin the second half and take a 43-32 lead with 11:15 remaining in the game. Brackins scored 10 of ISU's first 19 points of the second period to kickstart the Cyclone offense.

The Cyclone lead grew to 16 points (54-38) with just over six minutes left after Charles Boozer made a lay-in, but the Huskies kept hanging around. HBU scored eight-straight points to cut the gap to 54-46 with 2:50 left in the game. ISU finally ended the scoring drought with a pair of free-throws by Diante Garrett to push the lead back up to 10 with under two minutes left. ISU iced the game by making its free-throws the rest of the way, connecting on 18-of-19 shots from the charity stripe for the game.

Garrett added 12 points and four assists in the victory. The Cyclones are now 7-0 this season and 24-0 in the Greg McDermott era when holding their opponent to below 60 points. Brackins' five swats helped ISU record a season-high 11 blocked shots for the game.

The Huskies were led by Sauls, who finished with 22 points. Gordon Watt added a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

The Cyclones begin Big 12 play on Saturday, traveling to No. 7 Texas. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.

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Team Stats

Craig Brackins

Diante Garrett

Bryan Petersen

Lucca Staiger

Players Mentioned

Charles Boozer

Charles Boozer

Charles Boozer

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

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