Here's a look at the Cyclones' 2017-18 basketball schedule. Tyler Davis/The Register
AMES, Ia. — The way Iowa State played Saturday makes you wonder if Wednesday night at TCU really happened.
That horrific performance was motivation for what happened Saturday, the Cyclones’ 70-52 victory against eighth-ranked Texas Tech at Hilton Coliseum.
Almost 72 hours after playing its worst Big 12 Conference game since a 2014 loss at West Virginia, Iowa State was on its A-game in winning its second conference contest.
Coach Steve Prohm even predicted before practice Friday that his team would play with the focus, fire, energy and enthusiasm that it lacked during its mid-week loss in Fort Worth, Texas — and he was correct.
Cameron Lard was spectacular, with 18 points and six rebounds. Donovan Jackson (game-high three 3-pointers) was in one of his shooting zones again. Lindell Wigginton (13 points, four assists) played solidly. Solomon Young had nine rebounds, and what can you say about Nick Weiler-Babb?
The gritty point guard, playing with tendinitis in his left knee, had one play that capsulized how things changed from Wednesday to Saturday. With the shot clock nearing zeros in the second half, Weiler-Babb hustled up a long 3-point basket that gave the victorious Cyclones a 17-point lead with 7 minutes, 20 seconds to play.
Not only did it bring a rare show of emotion from Weiler-Babb after he made his first 3-pointer of the game, but it set off quite a vocal ruckus in Hilton.