AMES – No. 14 Iowa State (2-0) shot 53.1 percent from the field in the second half en route to an 81-58 victory over Georgia State (1-1) Monday night in Hilton Coliseum.
Sophomore Monte Morris posted a career-high 19 points and dished out nine dimes to pace the Cyclones. He had help from Naz Long, who buried five treys en route to 17 points, and Georges Niang, who tallied his second career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Dustin Hogue added 15 points and seven boards in the win.
The win was ISU’s 48th in Hilton Coliseum in its last 52 tries.
How it happened…
The first half was tight. Iowa State jumped out to a 10-4 lead, as Hogue tallied seven of ISU’s first points in the contest. The Panthers eventually took the lead at 21-20 when R.J. Hunter started to heat up.
The Cyclones went through a four-minute scoring drought until Long buried a trey from the corner to put ISU back up 31-27 with 2:38 left before intermission. ISU went into the break with a 35-29 lead.
The pace of the game increased furiously at the beginning of the second half. The Cyclones scored the first seven points behind a Long trey and a Bryce Dejean-Jones lay-in to put ISU up 42-29. After the Panthers cut it to seven points, Long hit another trey and Morris joined in from 3-point range to give the Cyclones a 54-40 lead with 14 minutes left in the contest.
ISU opened the second half by making 9-of-12 shots from the field.
The Panthers never threatened the rest of the way, as ISU’s lead grew to 24 points (68-44) with 8:17 left in the game after a Hogue lay-in.
The Cyclones outboarded the Panthers, 38-33.
