AMES, Iowa | Despite being down by double figures in the second half, Alabama State fought back to get to within three on the road in a hostile environment before falling to Iowa State 68-60 at the Hilton Coliseum on Tuesday night.
 
The two teams battled throughout the first half and into the second half before Iowa State (3-0) was able to go on a run to take a 14-point lead with 10:11 to play in the game. Alabama State (0-4) went on a 16-5 run over the next six minutes to pull to within 56-53 on a Trace Young (Owensboro, Ky.) jumper.
 
The Hornets had a pair of chances to tie the game in the final three minutes but couldn't convert and turned the ball over three times which allowed Iowa State to pull away down the stretch.
 
Isaiah Range (Cedar Hill, Texas) recorded his first double-double on the night with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while connecting on 7-of-13 from the floor. Jordan O'Neal (Mobile, Ala.) added 12 points and six rebounds, while Young added nine points and six rebounds in the loss.
 
The Hornets ended the night shooting 43.9 (25-of-57) percent from the floor and 26.7 (4-of-15) percent from beyond the arc. They also converted on 50 (6-of-12) percent from the free throw line, while grabbing 44 rebounds.
 
Meanwhile, Iowa State shot 37.1 (26-of-70) percent from the floor and were held to just 5.0 (1-of-20) percent shooting from beyond the arc. They also shot 78.9 (15-of-19) percent from the free throw line, while forcing Alabama State into 23 turnovers.
 
Izaiah Brockington led the Cyclones with a game-high 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while Tyrese Hunter added 19.

UP NEXT
Alabama State returns to action on Thursday, finishing up their five-game road swing to open the season at Iowa. The game tips at 6 pm and will be carried by the Big Ten Network.

QUOTES (from head coach Mo Williams)
"It's tough. We competed and gave ourselves a chance to win. But we committed 23 turnovers on the road and that makes it hard. I thought the zone worked and we held them to 1-of-20 on three-pointers. We gave up 40 points in the paint and that was tough, and they shot 70 attempts to our 57. There were some things that happened throughout the game that put us in a position to be where we were. We just have to get better in some areas, and we will."

"We are fighting. It's hard when you come out on the other side of things but we're getting better each day. As players, they get down on themselves, but as coaches it makes our job a little bit tougher to keep the morale right and get them to understand it is a long road ahead. To understand we are getting better even though we're not on the left side of things. We have one more on this road trip, it's five games on the road. It's a good learning experience for our guys, it'll make us better."

"It's going to be a different guy each game, or collectively as a unit. You have key guys who are getting in foul trouble and taking us out of the flow of our game. I really haven't had a game this year where I had the rotation, I had in mind coming into the game, I have to defer and change the lineups up due to foul issues. All four games have been like that. Hopefully we can play without fouling and guys can stay on the floor, and we can get a rhythm offensively."

"Like I told the guys, Thursday we have to approach it like a tournament game. If we are fortunate to be SWAC champs, that is the type of team we will see Thursday. They are well-coached, they move the ball around well, they play out of flow. Watching them it doesn't even seem like they are running sets, they are just flowing into action. That is a sign of good teams, signs of guys who have high IQs, and those are guys we will see if we are fortunate to be SWAC champions."

FOLLOW THE HORNETS
For complete coverage of Alabama State University men's basketball, follow the Hornets on social media @BamaStateMBB (Twitter), /BamaStateSports (Facebook), @BamaStateSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Alabama State athletics at BamaStateSports.com.