CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- To beat Iowa State's trapping zone, Minnesota needed to make shots from the outside and control the ball.
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Those just happen to be two of the Gophers' biggest weaknesses, and they were exposed yet again.
The Cyclones relied on the same formula that sparked a dramatic turnaround during the regular season, using a variety of pressure defenses to beat Minnesota 64-53 Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Iowa State held Minnesota to 33 percent shooting, and Curtis Stinson led a balanced attack with 18 points.
"I think they were pretty tired at times, but I don't think our defense was 100 percent," Stinson said. "I think we were 85 percent, maybe."
Rahshon Clark and Jared Homan added 14 each for Iowa State (19-11), which got past the first round for the first time since reaching the round of eight in 2000. The next season, seeded second, the Cyclones lost to 15th-seeded Hampton in their tournament opener.
That was only the beginning of their problems. Larry Eustachy resigned as coach in 2003 after it was revealed he had partied with college students on Big 12 road trips, embarrassing the university and leaving a cloud over the program.
He was replaced by his top assistant, Wayne Morgan. In his second season, Iowa State is again back in the postseason.
"We're happy and overjoyed to win a game in this great tournament," Morgan said. "But as a coach, you learn to move past this game and on to the next."
Getting to the NCAAs again took some work. A six-game losing streak in January left the Cyclones 0-5 in the Big 12, with games coming up against Oklahoma and Kansas. They won both of those, including a surprising upset of the Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse, and finished off a 10-3 record over their final 13 games to secure a No. 9 seed in the Syracuse Regional.
In this victory, Homan added 13 rebounds and a career-high seven blocks.
"It feels great to finally get to the NCAA tournament and especially to get a win," he said. "I think our team was very confident going into this game."
Brent Lawson and Vincent Grier had 14 apiece for the eighth-seeded Gophers (21-11), who had their own problems in recent years. After a trip to the 1999 tournament, an NCAA investigation found that the school committed 21 major academic violations. The infractions cost coach Clem Haskins his job, scholarships were cut, and all the records between 1993-98 were erased.
Sixth-year coach Dan Monson had Minnesota back in, but even he couldn't figure out Iowa State's defenses.
"My initial thought when I saw the brackets go up was, 'This is going to be a tough matchup for us,"' Monson said. "Two tough things for this team have been shooting from the perimeter and taking care of the basketball."
Iowa State forced 17 turnovers and kept the Gophers off-balance throughout, holding them to 5-of-23 from beyond the 3-point line. Grier came in averaging 18.1 points, but he never found his rhythm.
"They've got a very effective zone, and they play it well," he said. "We haven't seen it before."
Minnesota rallied midway through the second half before Iowa State went on an 8-0 run to take control, a spurt led by -- what else? -- defense.
On one possession, the Gophers unsuccessfully tried to inbound twice, with Lawson calling a timeout on one and Iowa State's Will Blalock deflecting another pass. It didn't work out so well when they did finally get it in, since the Cyclones pressured Jeff Hagen into a turnover.
"In our fullcourt press, we were able to disrupt them," Homan said. "I think that's when they were the least comfortable, with our guards up front getting their hands up and active, really forcing them to make passes and decisions that they didn't want to make."
The lead was 12 after Stinson finished the run with a short jumper before Minnesota got within five late on a putback by Lawson. But that was as close as it was down the stretch, with Iowa State completing the victory at the free-throw line.
Still, Monson looked back on the season fondly.
"They showed great character and heart to get us this far," he said. "The credit goes to Iowa State for sending us home."
