It wasn't always pretty, but Iowa State continued its winning ways to begin the T.J. Otzelberger tenure as head coach in Ames, beating Alabama State on 68-60 Tuesday night at Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones, who made just 1-of-20 from beyond the 3-point arc and shot just 37.1-percent from the field, improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign.

One of the stories of the first week of the season has been the play of Penn State transfer Izaiah Brockington, who tested the NBA waters prior to deciding to join the ISU during the offseason.

The shooting guard was one of the few Cyclones to shoot well from the field, making 9-of-17 from the field and five of his seven free throw attempts to finish with 23 points. He added a team-high 13 rebounds to finish with his second straight double-double.

Point guard Tyrese Hunter put together his best game in his young tenure, scoring 19 points on the strength of making 9-of-10 free throws. Although he struggled from the field, making 5-of-16, Hunter posted a much-improved 6:1 assist-to-turnover margin.

The Hornets owned a 44-36 on the boards, but that advantage was largely negated thanks to their 23 turnovers.

ISU didn't lead by double digits in the game until Brockington, Gabe Kalscheur and Robert Jones hit consecutive buckets to make it 45-35 with 12:32 to play. Two minutes later, Hunter's jumper extended that lead to 14.

Alabama State used an 11-2 run down the stretch to make things interesting. Trace Young's bucket with with 4:50 remaining cut the Cyclones' lead to 56-53.

Hunter and the Cyclones answered with eight straight over the next four minutes, with the freshman point guard knocking down six free throws.

Jones chipped in with nine points off the bench, while Kalscheur contributed eight in his third start of the season.

I-State remains at home and will host Grambling State on Sunday afternoon in Hilton Coliseum.