DES MOINES, Iowa – Despite a season-high 18 points from Seth VanDeest (Bettendorf, Iowa), rebounding and foul trouble allowed Iowa State to pull away from the Drake University men's basketball team for an 86-77 win in the Big Four Classic Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.
"We got some silly fouls early by some veteran guys,” Drake head coach Mark Phelps said. “Clearly fouls were a huge deal for us. We dug ourselves too much of a hole with the fouling."
Each of Drake's (4-5) top regular contributors in redshirt senior Jordan Clarke (Rockville, Md.), senior Ben Simons (Cadillac, Mich.) and VanDeest found themselves' in foul trouble early and saw limited minutes in the first half, playing just 10 combined minutes. Despite just playing five minutes in the first half, VanDeest and Simons exploded in the second half as Simons finished with 13 points to complement VanDeest's 18. Senior Chris Hines (Houston, Texas) also recorded 13 points for Drake.
Melvin Ejim and Will Clyburn both notched double-doubles for Iowa State (8-3), and four Cyclones scored in double digits. Ejim was the team leader in scoring and rebounds, as the junior had 21 points and 11 boards, while Clyburn had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Babb and Georges Niang both added 13 points.
The foul issues hurt the Bulldogs most on the glass, as they were outrebounded, 45-30. Clarke finished with a team high seven rebounds, despite only playing 25 minutes before fouling out. Redshirt sophomore Jeremy Jeffers (Wilson, N.C.) and freshman Joey King (Eagan, Minn.) both fouled out early in the second half, while Simons fouled out in the final minutes.
Those fouls allowed Iowa State to take advantage of its chances from the charity stripe, as the Cyclones converted 30-of-41 from the free throw line. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs had 20 fewer chances from the free throw line, and converted 17-of-21.
After trailing 6-2 in the opening minutes, the Blue and White responded with an 11-0 run to take an 13-6 lead. ISU's Korie Lucious ended the run with a three pointer and Iowa State responded with an 8-0 run to retake the lead, 14-13, at the next timeout. The Cyclones led by as many as eight points, but Drake charged back in late stages in the half to trail, 37-33, at halftime.
The Bulldogs struggles offensively in the early stages of the second half and faced a double-digit deficit resulting from a 16-8 Cyclone run to make the score 57-47. Drake fought back, closing the gap to four points, but never was able to get any closer.
“We had our opportunities and we hung in there,” Phelps said. “Daddy Ugbede (Gardena, Calif.) played a nice game and Micah Mason (Allegheny, Pa.) continues to improve and hit a couple of nice shots.”
Iowa State forced multiple key turnovers in the final four minutes of the game to deny any comeback opportunities and preserve the win.
The Bulldogs aim to rebound from their loss on Wednesday, as they play host to North Carolina Central. Tipoff at the Knapp Center against the Eagles is set for 7:05 p.m.
