Iowa State pulls away from winless Mississippi Valley State, 88-60

AMES - The Iowa State men's basketball team did its best Jekyll and Hyde impression Tuesday night - and that was only a quarter of the way into the game.

A hot start was stymied by sloppy play, but saved by a prolific night from veteran guards as Iowa State beat Mississippi Valley State 88-60 in its last game before conference play starts.

The Cyclones (8-3) have shown glimpses of stingy defense and potent offense, but are looking for them both to happen in the same game. A roller coaster in the first 10 minutes against the Delta Devils (0-12) showed they are still looking for the right formula.

'We had a falloff and we can't have that falloff,” Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. 'That's the biggest thing.”

Iowa State got out to an 11-0 start in the first three minutes forcing Mississippi Valley State to call timeout, and pushed 15-2 a minute and a half later. Then came the breakdown.

The Delta Devils went on a 16-3 run to tie the game four minutes later and forced 11 turnovers in the first half - Iowa State led 44-35 at the break - and got 15 points off those takeaways. The Cyclones turned it over just four times in the last 20 minutes.

Matt Thomas poured in a career-high 23 points and eight rebounds while Naz Mitrou-Long had 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting with six 3-pointers. Mitrou-Long is now 14-of-21 from deep in his last two games and is third in school history with 192 career 3-pointers, passing Georges Niang (188) and Dedric Willoughby (190).

Monte Morris added 13 points with four rebounds and four assists.

'Our shots are going to fall when the time comes and we really need them,” Thomas said. 'Two weeks ago everyone was saying Naz couldn't shoot. Now everyone's saying he's a great shooter. We're great shooters and we're just going to stick to what we do.”

What got both Thomas and Mitrou-Long, who combined to go 9-for-16 from outside, those looks was Iowa State's commitment to its four-guard lineup.

Nick Weiler-Babb injured his upper thigh and groin in the win against Drake and had just two rebounds in six first-half minutes, so Mitrou-Long ran at the four spot most of the night. Darrell Bowie, Deonte Burton and Solomon Young - who had eight points and seven rebounds in 15 minutes - spent most of the time at the five.

Iowa State shot 57.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3 - making 13-of-26 - with 30 points in the paint and 10 fast break points. The Cyclones also assisted on 21 of 32 baskets.

'It's cool because we have so many different lineups,” Mitrou-Long said. 'We get to utilize them and use some different looks and you have to stay attached to our four man or else we can easily score and our guys will find us.”

While the offense has started to gain traction, the defense Iowa State showed through the first half of the nonconference schedule must resurface. Mississippi Valley State shot 42.9 percent from the field in the first half, and dipped to 25.8 percent in the second half.

Iowa State grabbed 43 rebounds against the smaller Delta Devils lineup, but Mississippi Valley State still managed to get 13 offensive rebounds and 12 second-chance points.

'We've just got to get our tenacity and swagger back on defense,” Prohm said. 'We're starting to do a little more on offense sharing the ball, but we've lost our toughness or conditioning on the defensive end right now. We've got to get that back.”

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