Georges Niang scored 28 points and Iowa State watched Josh Hagins closely in the second half of a 78-61 win over Little Rock in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
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Those were the first points of the game for Hagins, Little Rock’s leading scorer at 13.4 per game who’d scored 31 – including 29 after halftime – in the Purdue upset. The great passing led to Niang shooting 11-18, Thomas shooting 6-10, Nader 4-7, Monte Morris 3-8, and McKay 3-4.
Early in the second half, Little Rock twice closed to nine, but 11 straight points – four of them by Niang – gave the Cyclones their first 20-point lead, 53-33, with 13:02 left.
The Trojans were riding high after an epic double-overtime win over No. 5 Purdue in the first round, but having to play again just two days later clearly took a lot of energy out of them.
This is the Cyclones’ fifth Sweet Sixteen appearance in school history and second in the past three years.
Butler wasn’t able to recreate its tournament runs of 2010 and 2011, when they were able to rattle off five wins in back-to-back tournaments to reach the title game each time.
Iowa State: A trip to Chicago for the Sweet 16.
In the first half, Iowa State started hot from the field, connecting on 7-of-12 from the 3-point line and shooting 58 percent overall. Niang can rebound, he can score in the post, he can knock down the open three and hits the glass. Combined with the only 10 fouls by Iowa State, Little Rock just failed at taking away the ball, or earning any points with the clock stopped.
“Even when I got by him, there was a 6-9 guy waiting on me”, Hagins said. Steve Prohm has done an excellent job in his first year as head coach, keeping in place the systems that worked so well under Fred Hoiberg. Iowa State is willing to get into shootouts, but they can’t lose too much focus defensively and get to the Elite Eight. “So, I think finding a way to use my body was really crucial to finishing at this level”, said Niang, Iowa State’s only two-time All-American whose name is pronounced knee-ANG.
“We played a very tough team tonight, but we were really tough”, Brogdon said. It was Iowa State’s defense that forced the Trojans to attempt 43 jump shots.
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Iowa State: Niang now has 2,198 career points. If Hagins is unable to produce another offensive symphony, Little Rock will find itself in a woeful spot indeed.
