Mitrou-Long finds his stroke in No. 4 Cyclones win

AMES - Naz Mitrou-Long was waiting for his breakout game.

He had been feeling close, but the makes weren't coming. Sunday night we walked into the gym to put up extra shots and get his stroke down pat. That's when he started to feel like the Mitrou-Long of old.

'These guys were finding me, it felt really good and it was going in the hoop,” Mitrou-Long said. 'Today was the day.”

The senior guard had 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including six 3-pointers, to help No. 4 Iowa State down Chattanooga 83-63 Monday night. Through Mitrou-Long's offseason hip surgeries he's had his roommate, Georges Niang, at his side as a support system.

Mitrou-Long came into Monday night 3-of-12 from 3-point range this season, but it didn't surprise Niang to finally see his buddy hit 6-of-9 once he got rolling.

'The work he puts in is like no other,” Niang, who had 19 points and five rebounds, said. 'He's in the gym three or four times a day and I know in the summer he was in there even more. He's just a gym rat and all the credit goes to him because he puts all the other nonsense aside and just buckles down and gets stuff done.”

Iowa State fell behind 7-2 early, but went on an 18-2 run in 4:25 to break open a 20-9 lead and controlled the game from there on. Outside shooting had been a weak point of the Cyclones' (3-0) first two games - 20 percent and 32 percent - but they connected on 14-of-29 from long range against the Mocs (3-1) with Mitrou-Long blazing the trail.

Iowa State coach Steve Prohm also finally saw the ball movement he's been looking for with the Cyclones assisting 21 times on 33 buckets. Monte Morris had 14 points, 10 assists, three steals, two blocks and one turnover in 38 minutes. His lone turnover came 1:31 into the game.

'Those guys are fun to watch when the ball is moving and that's just something they can do,” Prohm said. 'They've got a really good feel, they space the floor. We made shots tonight.”

Senior Jameel McKay followed up last week's 25-point performance by pulling down 17 rebounds, a career-high, to go along with eight points against the Mocs. It was the largest rebounding output for an ISU player since Melvin Ejim had 18 against TCU in 2014.

McKay said there was a concerted effort to crash the glass - Iowa State and Chattanooga were even at 37-37 in rebounding - but some came easier because of the Mocs' press.

'Sometimes I keep track of my rebounds, but today I asked one time because I felt like I was getting a lot,” McKay said with a laugh. 'I just went out there and we needed rebounds today so that's what I did.”

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