Iowa State received 46 votes in the latest AP Top 25 poll, good for 29th place, then went out on Monday night and showed why it could be worthy of being ranked for the next poll.

Senior Marial Shayok scored 20 points to lead Iowa State to an 81-59 win over North Dakota State in Ames, Iowa.

It was fourth straight win over the Cyclones (7-1), who next will play their in-state rival, No. 18 Iowa, on Thursday in Iowa City.

Junior Michael Jacobson had 15 points and 10 rebounds, freshman Talen Horton-Tucker scored 12 points, and senior Nick Weiler-Babb added 11 points for Iowa State. The Cyclones shot 50 percent from the field (33 of 66).

Sophomore Rocky Kreuser scored 13 points to lead the way for North Dakota State (2-7), which shot 36.5 percent from the field (23 of 63). Deng Geu had 10 points as the Bison lost their fourth consecutive game.

Iowa State started to take control early on, using a 16-4 run over a span of 5:59 to grab a 20-8 lead with 11:19 remaining in the first half.

The Cyclones built their lead to 29-12 with 8:58 remaining until halftime before North Dakota State made a minor run, cutting the deficit to 35-27 with 3:54 left.

However, Iowa State ended the first half on an 8-0 run to take a 43-27 lead into the break.

Iowa State continued its run to start the second half, scoring the first eight points to extend the difference to 51-27 with 18:36 left in the game.

The Cyclones ultimately built their lead to as many as 33 points at 72-39 with 9:23 remaining in the game on Terrence Lewis' layup.

North Dakota State did go on a 19-2 run to cut the margin to 74-58 with 3:59 left, but it still was too insurmountable a deficit for the Bison to overcome.

--Field Level Media