DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — With an ugly defeat staring them in the face, the Cyclones finally found their defense and put away pesky Drake.
Michael Jacobson scored 22 points, Marial Shayok had 16 of his 18 in the second half and Iowa State rallied to beat Drake 77-68 on Saturday for its sixth win in seven games.
Freshman Talen Horton scored 15 points with nine rebounds and four assists for the Cyclones, who used a late 12-0 run — keyed by a much stronger effort on the defensive end — to avoid the upset.
Jacobson had seven straight points during Iowa State's crucial spurt, following a corner 3 with an underneath bucket to give the Cyclones a 65-63 lead. Shayok then buried a 3 with 3:07 left to make it 70-63.
"I just thought we competed better," Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. "I thought the last six, seven minutes, we started getting deflections, got in the passing lanes, switched the right way."
Nick Weiler-Babb scored 13 points with six assists for the Cyclones (9-2), who beat the in-state rival Bulldogs for the fourth time in a row. But it was perhaps for the last time in a while since the annual doubleheader in Des Moines between the schools and Iowa and Northern Iowa is coming to an end.
Nick McGlynn had 19 points to lead Drake (6-2), whose win streak was snapped at five games.
"I saw a lot of good things from our team. Like I told them in the locker room, we're growing, we're getting better every day," first-year Drake coach Darian DeVries said.
THE BIG PICTURE
Iowa State: Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard has said in the past that the resumption of the rivalry would likely depend on Drake's willingness to play in Ames. Saturday's meeting was the 175th between the schools, which are located about 30 miles apart in central Iowa.
Drake: The Bulldogs look like they might do some damage in the Missouri Valley this season. Drake wasn't fazed playing the most talented team it'll face all season, and the Bulldogs made things tough on the Cyclones with crisp actions on offense and a defense that, at times, got Iowa State out of its comfort zone.
PIVOTAL MOMENT
Jacobson, the 6-foot-9 transfer from Nebraska, has looked like a new player for the Cyclones — and never was that more evident than when they needed him the most. A sluggish Iowa State fell behind by five and looked like they might drop one to Drake, a heavy underdog. But he stepped out for a 3 to tie it up, and then fought through pressure to give Iowa State a two-point lead it wouldn't relinquish. "If we had to work on one thing that's either going to make or break us, we've got to be locked in defensively for 40 minutes. We can't let our offense dictate our defense," Jacobson said.
THE NUMBERS
Iowa State had just seven turnovers, and it lost the ball just twice in the second half. ... Nick Norton had 11 points, 10 assists and six rebounds for Drake. ... Iowa State sophomore Cam Lard has been severely foul-prone in his three games back from suspension. Lard fouled out against Iowa, had four in just seven minutes in a win over Southern and three in three minutes against Drake. ... Tremell Murphy scored 12 points with eight rebounds in his return from an elbow injury for the Bulldogs.
HE SAID IT
"Iowa State just made all the big plays. They made plays winning teams needed to make. They hit some big shots, they got some stops on defense, they closed it out. That's where we want to get," DeVries said.
UP NEXT
Iowa State: Hosts Eastern Illinois on Friday.
Drake: Hosts SIU-Edwardsville on Monday.
