Duke Downs Iowa State 86-65

Iowa State’s showdown with fifth-ranked Duke didn’t go the way Cyclone fans had hoped for on Wednesday night. The Blue Devils jumped out to an early 14-2 run and ultimately beat the Cyclones 86-65.

FINAL BOX SCORE

The Good:

Positives were hard to come by for Iowa State on Wednesday night. Diante Garrett really kept Iowa State in the game during the first half by getting to the basket off of the dribble. Garrett ened the night with 10 points and three assists. Marquis Gilstrap led Iowa State in scoring with 16 points and eight rebounds. Still, he was 6-of-14 from the field.

The Bad:

Iowa State was 2-of-9 from the 3-point line. Duke out-rebounded Iowa State 35-29. Duke’s Jon Scheyer scored 31 points against the Cyclones while going 10-for-19. Iowa State put Duke on the free throw line 21 times. The Blue Devils converted on 19 of those attempts.

The Ugly:

Craig Brackins had two points and zero rebounds in the first half. Brackins ended the night with 12 points but went only 4-of-10 from the field. Needless to say, it was not a positive night for Brackins, as 19 NBA scouts were in attendance, according to Randy Peterson of the Des Moines Register.

Check out CycloneFanatic.com on Thursday for more of my thoughts on this game. You can also tune into Miller and Deace in the Morning from 6-8 on Des Moines Sports Station, 1460 KXNO, as I’ll be filling in for Jon Miller. I’m sure that the Duke game will be one of the topics that Steve Deace and I hit on heavily during the two-hour span.