No. 25 Iowa State manhandles Omaha

[December 06, 2016]  Iowa State may be most noted for offensive production, but it also takes good care of the defensive end these days.

The Cyclones held high-scoring Omaha under 50 points and snapped a two-game losing streak with a 91-47 nonconference victory on Monday at Hilton Coliseum.

"We work on (defense) every day," Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. "It's elementary and it's boring and it's probably no fun, but you have to do it because this team has to be good on that end of the floor to combine with good offense. The better we are defensively, the faster we can play.

"I know this is an offensive school, but hopefully we can do both."

The Cyclones got off to a brisk start as guard Deonte Burton scored his team's first 13 points and ended up with a game-high 20 through an 18-minute stint.

"The great thing about it is none of them were bad shots," Prohm said. "They were all good shots in rhythm. So, good for him, because he's put a lot of time in his shot."

Iowa State (6-2) saw its offense reignite after scoring just 54 points in an overtime loss last Thursday to Cincinnati.

The Cyclones never trailed as Donovan Jackson scored 15 points, Darrell Bowie had 12 and Naz Mitrou-Long added 11 for Iowa State (6-2).

Tra-Deon Hollins scored 13 for the Mavericks (4-5), who saw a two-game winning streak snapped.

"That team averages 85-87 points a game, so we did a really good job," said Prohm. "We weren't perfect all night; but, for the majority of the night, we played good defense."

Iowa State built an early 14-4 lead in the first 3:33 and extended it to 30-9 by the 9:51 mark, behind Burton's 15 points.

The Cyclones added eight more points in a 17-0 run that opened a 38-9 lead before the Mavericks broke it with a bucket with 7:24 left in the half.

Iowa State led 48-22 at halftime behind Burton's 17 points and 59 percent shooting (19 of 32).

The Cyclones scored six unanswered points to open the second half. The 54-22 lead was Iowa State's largest to that point. The margin reached 43 at 87-44 with less than three minutes to go.

Iowa State shot 33 of 65 (50.8 percent) and 15 of 29 from (51.7 percent) from 3-point range. Omaha was 19 of 67 (28.4 percent), hit just five from beyond the arc and had 19 turnovers.

"I thought tonight we really shared the ball a lot better. We passed and went side-to-side with the ball, and then our guys made shots," Prohm said. "And that helps obviously a ton."

NOTES: Omaha's 98-89 victory over Iowa on Saturday was the first win in 12 games against Big Ten teams. ... F Tre'Shawn Thurman scored 17 points in that contest and was named Summit League player of the week on Monday. ... The Mavericks will be home for the first time since Nov. 22 when they host Montana State on Saturday. ... Iowa State freshman F Solomon Young scored six points in second-half action Monday after missing the last four games with a fracture in his left hand. ... Iowa State remains one of the nation's top 35 teams in both offensive (33) and defensive (29) efficiency, according to Ken-Pom.com. ... The Cyclones will travel to Iowa City on Thursday to meet Iowa for statewide bragging rights.

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