Monte Morris reaches assists milestone in Iowa State win

AMES - When Monte Morris is flying up the court with the ball in his hands, his teammates know to be on high alert for some sort of pass heading their way.

Morris did a little bit of everything from a between the legs dish and around-the-back lobs to no-look feeds and precise bounce passes to push his name into elite company when it comes to Iowa State passers.

'Sometimes you have to focus on what his tendencies are because it catches me off guard when he throws a no-look pass,” said senior Georges Niang. 'But he's always looking to get guys in the right position and when you play with an unselfish point guard it really makes life much easier.”

No. 9 Iowa State blew past Coppin State 104-84 behind Morris' 10 points and 11 assists with zero turnovers. The junior had seven assists in the first 10 minutes and in 82 career games was the second-fastest ISU player - along with Jeff Hornacek and Will Blalock - to reach 400 assists. Jamaal Tinsley reached 400 in 68 games.

Six Cyclones scored in double figures, Abdel Nader leading with 21 points. Deonte Burton had 17 points on 5-of-17 shooting while Niang (15), Jameel McKay (15), Matt Thomas (13) and Morris rounded out the offensive surge.

'I knew if I came out aggressive, plays would open up for my teammates,” Morris said. 'With the type of defense they play, they're so random, but when I got a chance to get into a crease I would attract two or three guys and my teammates made me look good tonight. They made shots and I was happy for them.”

The Cyclones (11-1) jumped out to a 12-0 lead within five minutes and didn't surrender a bucket until Keith Shivers nailed a triple from the corner shortly after Iowa State reached its dozen-point lead. The Eagles (2-13) weren't able to reduce their deficit to less than 14 points after Iowa State took a 22-8 lead less than nine minutes in, but were able to find chances from long range.

Coppin State, which shoots 25.9 percent from 3, was 56.7 percent (17-of-30) from long range against the Cyclones. Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said offensive rebounding was the culprit - the Eagles had 15 offensive boards - for the long-range success, but knows the perimeter defense has to be a point of emphasis with Big 12 play beginning.

'Some of them were deep and (Coppin State was) just playing free,” Prohm said. 'It's something that we've got to have a point of emphasis on Saturday (at Oklahoma), I know that. If we give 17-of-30 there we're not going to win the game unless we go 18-for-30. But it will be a point of emphasis the next two days of where we've really got to be locked in.”

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