AMES – Iowa State (9-2 overall, 0-0 Big 12) held Western Michigan (3-8 overall, 0-0 MAC) scoreless for more than six minutes in the first half and went on a 14-0 run to grab control of the game early and never let up on its way to a 73-57 win Sunday at Hilton Coliseum. It marks ISU’s 18th-straight win against non-conference foes at Hilton Coliseum.
Iowa State shot a season-high 63 percent from the field, assisting on a season-high 24 of 31 field goals.
Defensively, Western Michigan shot just 38 percent, but made 13 3-pointers.
The Cyclone bench scored 38 points, the most for the Cyclones under T.J. Otzelberger.
For the first time this season, ISU had five players reach double figures, led by 14 for Caleb Grill. Gabe Kalscheur (11), Robert Jones (10) and Jaren Holmes (10) also reached double figures for the Cyclones, while Tre King made his Cyclone debut and finished with 11 points as well.
How It Happened
Caleb Grill scored the first six Cyclone points and the Cyclones buckled down on the defensive end, holding WMU to 30.8 percent shooting and forcing nine first half turnovers that it converted into 13 points to take a 37-23 lead into the break.
On the offensive end, ISU matched its best shooting half of the season shooting 61.5 percent as a team. The Cyclone bench had 23 points in the opening half, led by nine points from Kalscheur and seven from Jones.
The Cyclones stretched the lead to 22 points halfway through the second half, but Western Michigan connected on 13 three-pointers to keep ISU from running away.
Top Performance
Grill was 5-for-7 from the field and 3-for-5 from long distance as he scored a team-high 14 points, reaching double figures for the fourth time this season. He also pulled down a team-high six rebounds.
Notes
-Today’s game was the 2,800th game in program history … ISU owns a 1,421-1,379 all-time record.
– Today was the first-ever meeting between Iowa State and Western Michigan.
– Tre King played his first game as a Cyclone, entering the game at the 17:14 mark of the first half … King finished with 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting.
-Iowa State held a 44-8 advantage on points in the paint.
What’s Next
Iowa State has its final tune-up before Big 12 Conference play begins when it hosts Omaha on Wednesday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
