Hlas: Virginia paints over Cyclones' Final Four hopes

CHICAGO — There hasn't been a so-so defensive team that ever won an NCAA basketball championship, and never will be.

Iowa State's defense, which has faded in and out this season, faded to black Friday night. Virginia, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of this year's NCAA tourney, painted United Center orange with a whopping 52 points scored in the paint.

The Cavaliers' 84-71 Midwest Region semifinal victory over the Cyclones was a festival of layups, dunks, putbacks, and all-around interior domination.

Even good teams get their weaknesses exposed at some point in this tourney, and Virginia exposed Iowa State's.

'(Mike) Tobey is big and physical, and those guys like that have presented us with a problem throughout the year,' said ISU Coach Steve Prohm.

The Cavaliers patiently got the shots they wanted, and who wouldn't want the shots they got? Seven-footer Tobey and 6-8, 230-pounder Anthony Gill owned the low post, going a combined 16-for-22 from the field and scoring 41 points.

Tobey and Gill. That sounds like a country music duo, and the song they sang was 'Big Dogs Are Gonna Eat.'

Anthony Gill Dunks video, against the Cyclones Where there is a Gill there is a way...NCAA March Madness on Friday, March 25, 2016

Where there is a Gill there is a way...

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This wasn't a typical Virginia win. Iowa State's offense — in the second half, anyway — got good shots and made 51.9 percent of them against the nation's second-ranked team in scoring defense. ISU just didn't make enough from 3-point range to make a serious push in the final 10 minutes.

Cyclone senior forward Georges Niang somehow shrugged off playing with three first-half fouls and a fourth one with 13:10 left, and tossed in 30 points for a three-game NCAA total of 86.

That's pretty special.

But Niang, along with his teammates, offered little resistance on the defensive end.

'That offense was tough to figure out,' Cyclone point guard Monte Morris said. 'We just weren't sharp on defense, and they took advantage of every mistake we made defensively.'

Tobey scored a season-high 18 points, converting all four of his offensive rebounds into scores.

This game was decided in the first 5:12. Iowa State couldn't settle into its offense, while the Cavaliers settled into theirs as if it were five pairs of comfortable old sneakers. The score was 17-3, a football score that was every bit the kicking it indicates.

Entering this game, Iowa State looked like a team that could storm into the Final Four if it played sublime ball here this weekend while Virginia was an outfit that just needed to play the way it has played all season.

The Cyclones did far more denting of UVA's vaunted defense than most, but Virginia showed it has a lot more to offer offensively than grunting and grinding.

It's a hollow 30 points when your team gets whipped to end its season, but Niang didn't go meekly. He never did, really. The man scored 2,228 career points and played on four NCAA tournament teams, two of which reached Sweet 16s.

He'll make at least one more appearance at an Iowa State home game, the day a few years from now when he gets his number retired in Hilton Coliseum.

'I'm just bummed that we couldn't continue this run,' Niang said.

More: ISU's season ends not-so-sweetly | Niang foul trouble hurt comeback hopes

He was hugged by just about everyone in ISU's locker room after the game. They knew that without him, there was no Sweet 16, no NCAA tourney, and little but a long slog from October to March.

They knew a lot of good times over four years came from Niang's offensive wizardry, from his hunger to win, and from his leadership and camaraderie.

Niang never vanished in important games. To the contrary, in fact. He elevated his game on the biggest stages.

'These two guys (Niang and Morris) are a big part of … the resurgence of what's put Iowa State basketball back on the map over the last four years, and no one can take that away from these guys.'

Iowa State has grown used to losing great college players like Royce White, DeAndre Kane and Melvin Ejim, but has done so quite well. Plugging in someone to take Niang's place, however, may literally require some Hilton Magic.