Ryan Prather Jr. turned Iowa State’s trip to Evanston into his own show, erupting for 25 points off the bench as the Cyclones rolled past Northwestern 94-59 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Prather was nearly flawless. He went 7 of 8 from the floor, buried 6 of 7 from beyond the arc and made all five free throws in 24 minutes while also grabbing four rebounds. His shooting fueled a Cyclones reserve group that overwhelmed Northwestern’s bench 45-8.
“Coach T.J. has really been emphasizing coming out, throwing the first punch, not waiting, not relaxing, but just coming out with aggression,” Prather said to Cyclone Radio Network. “When we come out more aggressive, I feel like teams are more likely to kind of take a step back when we throw the first punch, and I feel like we get a lot of momentum from doing that.”
Iowa State’s defense set the tone early and never really let go. Northwestern managed just 18 points in the opening half, shooting 6 of 31 from the field. At one point in the first period, the Wildcats went 8 minutes and 1 second without a field goal and missed seven straight shots while the Cyclones put together a 17-4 burst to take control.
By halftime, Iowa State had built a 45-18 lead, and the margin climbed to as many as 36 in the second half.
Tamin Lipsey and Dominykas Pleta scored 14 points apiece for the Cyclones. Lipsey also handed out seven assists and picked off three steals.
Blake Buchanan did work inside with 10 rebounds, eight points and three blocks. Tre Singleton added 10 points and five rebounds in a return to Evanston against the school he left after his freshman season.
As a team, Iowa State shot 52.7% from the field, knocked down 8 of 16 threes and won the rebound battle 44-31. The Cyclones also finished well ahead in points in the paint, 38-20, and in fast-break scoring, 25-4.
“What’s important is that each day we maximize how we can get better individually and collectively,” Otzelberger said. “So it’s gonna be important that we don’t get focused on scoreboards and outcomes and we keep all our focus on, ‘Let’s control what we can. Let’s get better every single day, and let’s keep moving forward as a team.’”
Northwestern got 21 points from Jake West, who hit 7 of 16 shots and made four 3-pointers. Angelo Ciaravino added 13 points and four steals, and Jack Karasinski finished with 11 points. The Wildcats, with only three returning players from last season’s roster, showed more offensive life after halftime and shot 48.1% in the second half.
The game was a rare regular-season meeting between the programs. They had never played a regular-season game in Evanston before, and their only previous matchups came in 1949 and 2009.
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