Iowa State basketball coach Greg McDermott says the Cyclones need to learn how to close out games. In both losses this season the Cyclones squandered second half leads, including Tuesday night’s 66-63 loss to Drake in which they were outscored by the Bulldogs 16-3 to close the game.
McDermott says there’s no simple answer, as it unfortunately takes time to do. He says they’ve had opportunities to close games but haven’t done it and he says hopefully they will learn from that. McDermott believes the Cyclones will get better at closing games as they get more experience.
He says he likes the group and their approach, they just have to clean up the breakdowns. Senior guard Bryan Peterson had 11 points for the Cyclones and says they need to work the ball inside to Craig Brackins when it gets to crunch time.
Peterson says they took a lot of shots, himself included, and they have to try and get the ball to Brackins more in those cases instead of shooting the ball. The Cyclones return to action on Friday night with a visit to Iowa.