ISU crushes Iowa with post-halftime barrage

IOWA CITY - Iowa State forward Georges Niang put an exclamation point on jaw-dropping performance and sealed it with a kiss to the Iowa student section Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Iowa State junior scored late in the second half of a 90-75 win against instate rival Iowa (8-3), a game that was prone to bouts of swagger and stagger. It was close at halftime, then it became a blitzkrieg just seconds into the second half.

The No. 13 Cyclones (7-1) connected on 10 of their first 11 shots of the second half - including 10 straight - and converted five Iowa turnovers into 13 points, all before the first media timeout. Iowa State relentlessly pounded the Hawkeyes as part of a 26-2 run that turned a 33-33 tie with 50 seconds left in the first half into a 59-35 massacre with 14:37 left in the game

'I just felt like our energy level was zapped,” Iowa senior Aaron White said. 'They were making a run, and we just kind of accepted it. That was most disappointing thing from my end. We just accepted it and acted like we couldn't compete.”

Niang, who scored 16 points, missed nine of his first 10 shots but still buried a 3-pointer to put ISU ahead 41-33 early in the second half. After White knocked down a pair of free throws to cut Iowa's deficit to six points, the Cyclones dusted the Hawkeyes. A steal by Dustin Hogue led to a Naz Long layup. A blocked shot turned into a Niang dunk. Another steal became an Abdel Nader layup. Yet another steal quickly turned into a Long layup.

The pounding continued. Another Iowa turnover ended with a Long 3-pointer. Iowa called timeout, and new players entered the game. Another steal, more Iowa State free throws. It went on and on and on. In all, Iowa State scored on 10 consecutive possessions. A competitive game became a rout.

'We just weren't responding defensively,” Iowa guard Mike Gesell said. 'We weren't forcing them to do what we wanted them to do. We were just kind of letting them run their offense and letting them run everything smoothly.”

'Everything went wrong,” White said. 'Exactly what I've been telling you guys all that we did last year, we relied on our offense. It's exactly what we did when our offense wasn't clicking. Missing shots, turning the ball over. Just letting them score at will. Didn't execute our game plan in the second half. Left shooters open, Niang open, (Monte) Morris drove wherever he wanted.”

Iowa allowed just seven turnovers, but gave it up five times in a six-possession span.

'It doesn't get talked about much but, hell, our numbers haven't been good enough to talk about to be honest with you,” Iowa State Coach Fred Hoiberg said about his defense. 'Our pace obviously leads to higher scoring averages. When you look at the advance numbers, our defense is pretty solid, but I thought we definitely took a step in the right direction defensively and we have the last few games.”

The first half featured four lead changes and four ties. ISU scored the half's final five points, including a transition 3-pointer at the buzzer by Matt Thomas to take a 38-33 lead. Iowa played for the final shot of the half, but Morris blocked Gesell's shot. Thomas raced up the floor, pulled up outside the arc and drilled the shot with no time remaining.

'I thought that was a big play in the game,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'We had a chance to tie it up, go up one, we're down five. Thomas makes a big shot, got to give credit there.”

Outside shooting continued to be an issue for the Hawkeyes. Iowa sank just 7 of 20 3-point attempts, while the Cyclones drilled 12 of 27. Iowa State shot 53.1 percent for the game and 63.3 percent in the second half. Iowa struggled early at 33.3 percent in the first half and shot better when the game was completely out of reach.

Afterward, Iowa's players walked into the interview much later than usual and the mood - as expected - was subdued. Losing games, even to an instate rival, happens. Getting blown out at home is a cause for concern.

'It's almost embarrassing,” White said. 'We're better than that. It's just disappointing because I know we're better than that. I'm better than that, as a group we're better than that. It's just frustrating and unacceptable to be honest. That's the best word for it, is unacceptable. Moving forward that can't happen.”

Iowa takes the weekend off and doesn't play again until Dec. 20 against No. 24 Northern Iowa (9-0) at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

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