The Iowa State Cyclones may have a new unsung hero in town.

On Sunday afternoon, Iowa State went on the road to take on the Northwestern Wildcats in a second and final exhibition. And they dominated, winning 94-59 in a game that was over within just a few minutes. Coming in, many were expecting star guard Tamin Lipsey to be the star of the show, but it was actually a different guy.

Ryan Prather Jr. showed up and showed out. He finished with a team-high 25 points on just eight shots, going 7-of-8 from the field and 6-of-7 from 3-point range. He gathered four rebounds in the victory as well.

Prather Jr. will be a key piece to the Cyclones this season. He spent a season with the Akron Zips getting minimal playing time before playing two years with the Robert Morris Colonels. There, he averaged 8.3 and 15.7 points, taking a big leap in his junior season by becoming a featured scorer on the team.

Ryan Prather Jr. catches fire against Northwestern

Throughout his time with Robert Morris, he was a 3-point threat. Prather Jr. averaged 1.5 deep ball makes per game throughout his sophomore year, as well as 2.5 makes his junior year. His percentages were great too. As a sophomore, he shot 39.7% from deep, and as a junior he hit 36.8% of his threes.

While Iowa State fans may be numb to good shooting percentages due to former player Milan Momcilovic’s numbers, those percentages are still great, especially at high volume.

In the Cyclones’ first exhibition game against the Creighton Bluejays, they suffered a poor loss, with immense blame on the 3-point shooting. The team went just 5-of-24 from deep as a whole, a disappointing stat considering Creighton went 14-of-29. In that game, Prather Jr. went 0-for-5 from deep and didn’t score a single point.

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— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) October 25, 2026

His ability to come off a poor performance and back it up with a special one is a big deal for Iowa State fans. To be able to have a player bounce back so quickly can be huge, especially late in the season when the team will have to play games every day or every few days.

And it’s clear that Prather Jr.’s misses against Creighton were most definitely a fluke.

This was a big win for the Cyclones and showcases a lot about the squad as a whole. The team dominated all night, especially in the first half, where they led by a wide margin. And a big reason for that was Prather Jr.'s dominance.