Iowa State snaps two-game conference skid with first win at Kansas State since 2012

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Iowa State was trying to weather the storm, but coach Steve Prohm saw the chance for his guys to catch their collective breath.

Kansas State turned its double-digit deficit into a five-point disadvantage in 2 1/2 minutes, so Prohm whistled for his guys to call timeout. When he got the Cyclones into the huddle, Prohm didn't offer any prepared speech.

That brief window of time gave No. 18 Iowa State just enough time to settle back down.

'Now you can see how fast people can change the game so I just wanted to get those guys steadied,' Prohm said. 'Just let them know we played really well up until [that] point and now we have to finish.'

Iowa State's 76-63 win was spurred on by the way it exited the timeout when the Cyclones promptly went on a 7-0 run — giving Iowa State its first win in Manhattan since 2012. Georges Niang's 3, Jameel McKay's alley-oop dunk and Abdel Nader's layup turned that five-point lead back into 12 in 77 seconds.

Monte Morris had 19 points, four assists and four rebounds to lead Iowa State while Niang chipped in 15 points and six rebounds. Abdel Nader and Matt Thomas were also in double figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively.

'When they made runs, we always huddled up and we kept our composure,' Morris said. 'When we're like this, like a fist, I don't think anybody can beat us and when we focus I feel like we play well and we responded well to adversity. We know how to win and we got a win on the road.'

The Cyclones (13-4, 2-3) fell behind by four early. Seven points from Nader in a little more than a minute gave them a 9-6 lead. Iowa State was ahead 11-9 nearly midway through the first half, but used a 15-0 run spanning 6:22 to pull ahead 26-9 while Kansas State went on a scoring drought for 7:26.

The Wildcats (11-6, 1-4) shot 31 percent from the field in the first half with Iowa State playing primarily a 2-3 zone through the first period. Prohm said the coaching staff spent the last couple days breaking down components of the zone defense and tried to find ways to take Kansas State out of its rhythm.

'I think we exploited some of the things they don't do pretty good in that zone,' Niang said. 'We could have done a better job of rebounding and I could have done a better job of rebounding, but we came out with the win.'

Iowa State played without Hallice Cooke, who served a one-game suspension Saturday for a violation of team policies. Prohm said he met with the team this week and expressed his expectations for players to follow instructions and Cooke failed to live up to that in practice.

Kirkwood transfer Jordan Ashton was the second man off the bench in Cooke's absence and had five points in 19 minutes. Prohm said he didn't anticipate an issue with Cooke moving forward, but added Ashton's performance could warrant a discussion about using an eight-man rotation.

'For him to come out and give us that kind of effort in 20 minutes on the road like this and a kind of back-against-the-wall game, speaks volumes about the kid,' Prohm said. 'I'm just happy for him that he was ready."