Charlotte, N.C. ? To beat Iowa State’s trapping zone, Minnesota needed to make shots from the outside and control the ball.

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. The Cyclones next play top-seeded North Carolina in the second round Sunday.

“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 each added 14 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.

“We’re happy and overjoyed to win a game in this great tournament,” ISU coach Wayne Morgan said. “But as a coach, you learn to move past this game and on to the next.”

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.”

Iowa State's Curtis Stinson (1) and Rahshon Clark celebrate a 64-53 victory over Minnesota. The Cyclones won their NCAA first-round game Friday at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C.

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.

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 three-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 in the second half before Iowa State went on an 8-0 run to take control, a spurt led by defense.

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 credit for sending us home.”