Niang’s career night leads Iowa State to win against Buffalo

AMES - On the surface it looked like Iowa State senior Georges Niang was trying to take charge on the court to pull away from a heavy underdog that was hanging around into the second half.

Niang didn't quite see it that way though.

'I've got a core of a great group of guys around me that really just find me in great places and make the game real easy for me,” Niang said. 'As soon as I got a couple going, Coach (Steve Prohm) was calling my number and Monte (Morris) was finding me and a bunch of other guys were finding me.

'Through the flow of the game my teammates were finding me and I was just making shots.”

Niang cashed in a career-high 31 points and 12 rebounds to push No. 2 Iowa State to an 84-63 win against Buffalo on a night when the offense went through a handful of dry spells.

Early mistakes and defensive breakdowns gave the Bulls (4-5) a 16-15 lead nearly midway through the first half, but the Cyclones (7-0) found some juice on offense. Iowa State shot its way into a 15-0 run spanning 2:47, spurred on by two 3-pointers from Niang, a three by Hallice Cooke and six points from Abdel Nader to build a 30-16 lead.

The Cyclones led 34-25 at halftime, but the Bulls climbed back to cut the lead to 42-39 and then 47-46 on the strength of Jarryn Skeete, who finished with 16 points.

Morris helped bring the lead back to double digits at 57-46 with his 12 points, 10 assists and two turnovers after going scoreless with two assists in the first half. Jameel McKay also finished with a double-double 13 points and 10 rebounds.

'We did what great teams do and we talked about it at halftime,” Morris said. 'We scored 50 points in the second half and I think that's Cyclone basketball. Coach is happy and we're going to watch film, get better and get ready for Thursday.”

Morris joked that superstition at halftime caused him to change his shoes - switching into low tops - but Prohm saw him get into more comfortable actions with ball screens.

'I thought he did a better job of moving the ball and using ball screens to where I think when people are switching ball screens sometimes, he can get stagnant for a second and hold it,” Prohm said of Morris. 'That slows everything down and the second half I thought he moved with better pace.”

Iowa State also elevated itself to No. 4 in the AP Poll and No. 2 in the Coaches Poll - which is the highest ranking ever for the program. At 7-0 and with Iowa invading Hilton Coliseum on Thursday, Niang credited Prohm with instilling a singular focus into the team through the early part of the season.

'We really don't think about who we're playing two games down the road,” Niang said. 'We just think about getting in and getting our work done and becoming a better team every day. I think that's really helped us.”

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