Cyclones escape to play another day

The Iowa State Cyclones held off a second-half rally by Central Connecticut State to win their first round NCAA Tournament game 88-78 Thursday at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Iowa State built double digit leads in the first half, but Central Connecticut came back to tie the game in the second half. Cyclone Coach Larry Eustachy says his team let up after building the big lead.Junior Marcus Fizer led Iowa State with 27-points, but struggled at times to get open. He says they showed they can still win even if he doesn’t score.Fizer says he did get frustrated when Central Connecticut made a comeback.Guard Kantrail Horton says the team got it together down the stretch.Jamaal Tinsley scored 26 points, had six rebounds and six assists. The Cyclones move on to play Auburn Saturday in the second round. Auburn downed Creighton yesterday, 72-69.