Unbeaten Iowa State Wins Its Own Game

Iowa State relied on balance and defense to offset the absence of leading scorer Dedric Willoughby and beat Siena, 64-54, Friday night to win its own Cyclone Challenge at Ames, Iowa.

Kelvin Cato and Shawn Bankhead led No. 9 Iowa State (4-0) with 10 points, and Brad Johnson, who started in Willoughby’s place, scored nine.

The 6-foot-11 Cato, in only his second game of the season, also grabbed nine rebounds, blocked six shots and forced Siena players to alter several others.

With Cato dominating inside, Siena (2-2) was forced into a perimeter game and couldn’t get its shots to go against Iowa State’s defensive pressure. The Saints shot only 28.6% in the first half and 33% in the game.

Willoughby, averaging 22 points a game, sat out because of a strained hamstring suffered in practice on Wednesday and his absence showed early on. Exasperated Coach Tim Floyd took his starters out at the 14:33 mark in the first half and with 8 1/2 minutes gone, the Cyclones led only 10-9.

Then, sparked by reserve point guard DeAndre Harris, Iowa State got going. Harris had three assists and a 3-pointer in a 10-2 run that stretched the lead to 20-11 and Iowa State finished the half with 11 consecutive points to cap a 15-2 run that made it 38-17.

Jim Secretarski led Siena with 10 points. Geoff Walker, Siena’s leading scorer for the season with a 17.3 average, missed all five of his shots and scored one point.

OTHER GAMES

Ryan Chilton scored 15 points and was joined in double figures by four teammates as Colorado State (5-1) beat Sacramento State (1-4), 89-45, in the first round of the Ram Classic in Fort Collins, Colo. . . . Kent McCausland continued his bulls-eye shooting, sinking six of seven three-point shots and scoring 20 points to lead Iowa (4-2) to a 93-73 win over Grambling State (1-6) in the Hawkeye Shootout tournament at Iowa City, Iowa. . . . Marlon Garnett scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, including two free throws with eight seconds remaining, as Santa Clara (2-3) held off Fairfield (3-2), 64-60, in the MetLife Classic. . . . Freshman guard Cookie Belcher scored a career-high 22 points as Nebraska (4-1) cruised to an 88-72 win over Coppin State (0-2) in the opening round of the Ameritas Classic at Lincoln, Neb. . . . Levell Sanders matched his career high scoring 26 points and Donnell Williams added 14 as Seton Hall (1-3) won its first game of the season, downing Fordham (2-2), 80-65, at East Rutherford, N.J. . . . Kiwane Garris scored 19 points and Illinois (5-2) rolled to an 84-59 victory over Columbia (1-4) in the opening game of the Illini/Pepsi Classic at Champaign, Ill.

WOMEN

Led by 22 points from Tina Thompson, USC (2-0) beat Western Illinois (2-1), 80-42. Tiffany Washington scored 12 points and Adrain Williams 11 for the Trojans.

College Basketball Notes

New Mexico State Coach Neil McCarthy apologized after being caught on camera making an obscene hand gesture after his ejection from a 79-73 loss to Texas El Paso Wednesday night at Las Cruces, N.M. McCarthy, who initially denied making the gesture, said Friday it was an instinctive response to a fan who spit at him from the stands as he got near a tunnel.