Izaiah Brockington had 18 points and six rebounds and Gabe Kalscheur had 12 of his 19 points in the first half as Iowa State began its season at home Tuesday with an 84-73 win over Kennesaw State.
Tyrese Hunter added 11 points, six rebounds and five assists for Iowa State.
It was the 44th road loss in a row for Kennesaw State, which last won away from home on Feb. 15, 2018, at Florida Gulf Coast.
Brockington hit a jumper to give Iowa State a 61-45 lead with 9:50 left to play after a sloppy first half saw the hosts lead by just eight points at intermission over a team that was 5-19 last season.
Jamir Moultrie of Kennesaw State trimmed the margin to 64-57 with two free throws with 6:39 to go. Chris Youngblood of the Owls made two free throws to trim the margin to 66-60 with 6:14 left, but the hosts pulled away down the stretch.
T.J. Otzelberger made his head coaching debut with Iowa State and recorded his 100th win in college coaching. He spent two seasons as the head coach at UNLV before returning to Iowa State, where he had been an assistant coach.
With 17:38 left in the game, junior guard Tre Jackson made a jumper to give the Cyclones a 41-29 lead. But the visitors from Georgia went on a 5-0 run to pull within 41-34 before Brockington made a layup off a turnover and hit a free throw to make it 44-34 with 16:06 to play.
Terrell Burden, a junior guard, led Kennesaw State with 21 points while Youngblood finished with 16 points and eight rebounds for the Owls.
Iowa State was 2-22 last season and 1-10 at home.
The Owls of the Atlantic Sun Conference were 0-9 on the road last season. Kennesaw State was 0-16 on the road in 2019-20 and 0-15 away from home in 2018-19.
–Field Level Media
