Iowa State Tops Iona: NCAA Tournament

It’s a great time of year for basketball fans and casual gamblers filling out their office pool brackets as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament began on a cold St. Patrick’s Day in Denver, CO. It’s the first time since 2011 Denver has hosted the event. The first game tipped shortly after noon and featured the Iona Gaels vs the Iowa State Cyclones. As local fans kept on eye on the Colorado vs UCONN game (Buffaloes gagged away a halftime lead to lose 74-67) and their brackets, a mostly pro-Cyclone crowd got fired up for Round 1 NCAA Tournament action.

Aside from the play of Iona G A.J. English and F Jordan Washington, the Cyclones controlled most of the pace of play in the 1st half. G Monte Morris hit a big 3 -pointer as the heavily featured Cyclone crowd erupted to Iowa State regaining their double digit lead 45-33 going into halftime. Three players from Iowa State were in double-digits at halftime as the Cyclones were shooting 50% from beyond the arc. A very good 3-point shooting Iona, meanwhile, went 2-13 from 3-point land in the 1st half and shot 39.4% from the field.

The 2nd half featured impressive play by the stars from each team. Cyclones F Georges Niang had a beautiful alley-oop to Jameel McKay for the slam dunk. Later in the 2nd half, McKay got it done on the defensive end with a monster block on Iona F Jordan Washington TWICE in the same possession. Washington finished with a double-double 26 points, 12 rebounds and G A.J. English chipped in 28 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. They were the only two players for Iona who finished in double figures. Meanwhile, all five of Iowa State’s starters finished with double-digit points as Georges Niang lead the way with 28 points. Iona drew within seven points under three minutes remaining, but the Cyclones were able to hang on and advance to Saturday’s round 2, beating Iona 94-81. Iowa State was able to avenge their early round exit from last season in what Senior Georges Niang described in the postgame as a “track meet”. He wasn’t wrong. Iowa State finished the game shooting 50% from the field and will now await the winner of Arkansas-Little Rock vs Purdue.

Ryan Edwards

@ryanedwards1043

TOP PHOTO CREDIT: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports