Courtesy: Athletics Communications
Bryce Dejean-Jones was perfect from the field (8-8 FG) to lead the way with 27 points and Georges Niang added 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor. Dejean-Jones became just the fifth Cyclone in school history to make all of his shots from the floor with eight or more attempts.
The Cyclones scorched the nets for a season-high 64.0 percent clip from the floor and drilled 10-of-19 shots from 3-point range in the victory.
The Cyclones put on a bona fide offensive clinic in the first half. Iowa State shot 64.3 percent from the field (18-28 FG), including a 7-of-14 effort from 3-point range, to race out to a 52-32 lead at the break.
It was 12-4 ISU after Naz Long buried a 3-pointer before the Razorbacks cut the gap to 14-9 with 15:47 left in the first half. Bobby Portis had seven of UA’s first nine points.
The Cyclones quickly answered with an 8-0 run behind a trey and a monster dunk from Dejean-Jones to push ISU up 22-9. The Razorbacks started to creep back by cutting the Cyclone lead to 26-20, however.
After that, it was all ISU. Back-to-back treys from Matt Thomas and Niang started a huge 13-0 run, as the Cyclones all of sudden held a 39-20 lead with 6:18 left before the break.
ISU led by as many as 22 points in the opening period, as Niang and Dejean-Jones had 14 and 13 first half points, respectively.
The Razorbacks didn’t go away in the second half. The lead was trimmed to 65-51, but ISU had an answer with a Dejean-Jones hoop and a Long 3-pointer to give ISU a 70-51 lead with 11:06 left in the game.
Arkansas then countered with an 11-3 run to close the margin to 73-62 with a little over nine minutes remaining.
It was a 14-point game until the Cyclones sealed it with a 7-0 run behind a Dejean-Jones 3-pointer and bucket, and a Niang tip-in to give ISU a comfortable 89-71 lead with 4:23 remaining.
