Iowa State’s Niang on All-Big 12 first team, Burton top newcomer

AMES - Iowa State men's basketball senior Georges Niang is putting the finishing touches on his college career and making some school history along the way.

Niang was named a unanimous All-Big 12 first team selection Sunday and is the first Cyclone since Jamaal Tinsley (2000-01) to be a first-team pick in consecutive seasons. He joined Isaiah Taylor (Texas), Taurean Prince (Baylor), Buddy Hield (Oklahoma) and Perry Ellis (Kansas) on the first team.

The Methuen, Mass., native, ended the regular season averaging 19.4 points per game - second best in the Big 12 - and 20.0 points per game in conference play. Niang shot 54 percent from the field, scored in double figures in all 31 games and had 13 20-point performances to go along with 6.2 rebounds per game.

Junior Deonte Burton was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year unanimously and is the fourth ISU player to win the award in the last five seasons. He joins Royce White (2012), Will Clyburn (2013) and DeAndre Kane (2014) as Cyclones to win the award.

Burton sat out the early portion of the season after transferring from Marquette, but made his debut on Dec. 19 and has averaged 10 points per game while shooting 46.9 percent from 3-point range. The Milwaukee, Wis. native, had a career best 23 points and 14 rebounds against TCU on Feb. 20.

Junior Monte Morris was a second team selection for the second-straight year while junior Matt Thomas and seniors Jameel McKay and Abdel Nader were honorable mention selections. Each player in the top six of Iowa State's rotation received a Big 12 honor.

Morris has averaged 14.2 points, 7.1 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game - all career highs - while pacing himself to a 4.1 assist-to-turnover ratio for the third-straight year. He's had five point-assist double-doubles.

After Naz Mitrou-Long was sidelined for the rest of the season in December, Thomas has been in the starting lineup and averaged 10.6 points per game and hit 77 3-pointers in the regular season. He's shot 43 percent from beyond the arc and is second only to Hield in 3-pointers per game (2.5).

McKay chipped in 11.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game in the regular season while Nader added 13.2 points per game.

Iowa State is the No. 6 seed in the Big 12 tournament and will play No. 3 seed Oklahoma on Thursday with tipoff slated for 8 p.m. ESPNU is scheduled to televise the action.

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