Courtesy: cyclones.com
AMES, Iowa -Will Clyburn scored a career-high 32 points to pace Iowa State (5-2, 0-0 Big 12) to an 83-62 victory over BYU (5-2 overall, 0-0 West Coast Conference) Saturday afternoon in Hilton Coliseum.
Clyburn, who had 22 points in the opening period, caught fire early and stayed hot throughout the game. The Cyclone senior registered ISU’s first 30-point game since Jake Anderson had 33 vs. Colorado in the 2011 Big 12 Tournament.
The Cyclones shot 48.3 percent from the field and held the Cougars to 36.9 percent shooting. BYU star Tyler Haws, who was averaging 22.6 points a contest coming into the game, was held in check thanks to Chris Babb’s defense. Haws scored just nine points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field with Babb shadowing him for most of the game.
The victory increases ISU’s homecourt winning streak to 12 games, tying for the sixth-best victory mark in school history.
The first half was a high-scoring affair, as the Cyclones went into the break with a 48-37 lead. BYU led 19-17 with 10:22 remaining in the first half until the Cyclones went on a 13-5 run to go ahead 30-24 with 7:50 left.
Clyburn scored seven points in the run.
The Cougars trimmed the Cyclone lead to 40-37 after a Matt Carlino bucket, but the Cyclones scored the final eight points of the half to take an 11-point halftime advantage. Korie Lucious scored on a pull-up jumper followed by a Babb 3-pointer in the closing seconds.
Clyburn tallied 22 points in the first half, making 7-of-10 shots from the floor.
Iowa State scored the first four points of the second half to make it a 12-0 run dating back to the first half. The Cyclone lead increased to 17 points (58-41) after a Percy Gibson bucket in the paint with 14:54 left in the game.
The Cyclones maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half. A Clyburn dunk made it 76-57 ISU with just under five minutes remaining in the contest.
ISU outrebounded its seventh-straight opponent, 40-37. Melvin Ejim had eight rebounds and Percy Gibson and Tyrus McGee each grabbed seven boards to pace the Cyclones on the glass.
Lucious recorded 12 points and a Cyclone-high nine dimes in the win.
Iowa State is back in action Tuesday night (Dec. 4), playing host to Florida Gulf Coast at 7 p.m. CT.
