Iowa State advances, 94-81 over Iona

DENVER — Georges Niang heard the national chatter all week long. His team was a trendy pick to not survive past its first game.

The night before No. 4-seed Iowa State played 13-seed Iona in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Niang tossed and turned all night as he tried to sleep. None of that restlessness was born out of nervousness though.

'The reason I couldn't get to sleep was to put to rest all these doubters and haters of us getting upset in the first round,' Niang said. 'I think that was the biggest thing. That's what was on my mind all night.'

Iowa State's 94-81 win against Iona on Thursday certainly wasn't unexpected, but it was a necessary first step to fully exorcise the demons of last year. The Cyclones will play 12-seed Arkansas-Little Rock in the second round Saturday with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.

Iowa State (22-11) was feeling none of the pressure and after being down five early, responded with a 16-2 run in less than four minutes to grab a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Iowa State led by as much as 18 in the second half.

'We played well, but we played against broken defense a lot,' said Iowa State coach Steve Prohm. 'We played against zone a lot and were able to spread the floor out against them a lot. When we're able to spread the floor and make the extra pass and we're making shots, we're really good.'

Niang poured in a game-high 28 points and needs just 20 to tie Barry Stevens for second all-time on the ISU scoring list. After starting 3-for-12 from the field, the senior was 8-for-11 in the second half and rid himself of the frustration he dealt with for the first 20 minutes.

A.J. English led the Gaels (22-11) with 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Jordan Washington added 26 points.

'There was a little frustration, but you've got to get back to what you do and what you know,' Niang said of his early game misfires. 'That was me getting to the front of the rim. I think I did a solid job of that. I even had a dunk. You guys see that?'

While Niang worked into his offensive rhythm, Iona had to contend with Iowa State's other threats. Monte Morris (20), Abdel Nader (19) and Matt Thomas (14) all scored in double figures while Jameel McKay added a near double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds with three blocks.

'I think we have all the pieces, we're talented, we can score in a variety of ways and you kind of half to pick your poison with us,' Thomas said. 'I wouldn't want to be an opposing coach trying to prepare for us offensively.'

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Iowa State shot 64.3 percent from the field through the first eight minutes of the game and was at 50 percent through 40 minutes. Iona shot 58.1 percent in the second half and drew the game to within seven with 2 minutes, 50 seconds to go before it started to come unhinged.

A turnover and technical foul on English helped the Cyclones to an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach with under a minute to play and gave them, just for a moment, a sense of relief.

'We've got huge expectations for ourselves,' McKay said. 'We don't care what other people think. The expectations for ourselves exceeds everybody else's so if people thought we were coming out here to win one game and be satisfied, they have the wrong team.'