DENVER — It was like looking in the mirror for Iona, only what the Gaels saw was a more souped-up version of themselves.
Three-point shooters everywhere, more length and skill, an opponent that transitioned from defense to offense even faster than the MAAC champions.
Thirteenth-seeded Iona met its power-conference equivalent in No. 4 Iowa State on Thursday afternoon, and the explosive Cyclones made the Gaels look ordinary on the offensive end by comparison. Shooting 50 percent from the field, sinking 10 3-pointers and assisting on 17-of-32 field goals, Iowa State cruised to a 94-81 victory in an NCAA Tournament Midwest Region first-round game at Pepsi Center, doing to Iona what the Gaels have done to so many MAAC teams in the Tim Cluess era.
“It was a race — that’s all it felt like,” Iona senior Isaiah Williams said. “It’s a team exactly just like us. We would score, they’re running right back down our threats.
“Today it looked like we got tired first.”
The Cyclones rebounded from last year’s upset in the first round as a three-seed to UAB while Iona has now lost its last 10 NCAA Tournament games, its most recent win coming in 1980.
The Cyclones got whatever they wanted at the offensive end, their ball movement dizzying, their wide array of capable 3-point shooters impressive.
“That’s what you’re going to get playing Iowa State,” Iona senior guard A.J. English said. “That’s why they are one of the top teams in the country, that’s why they are ranked, that’s why they have potential pros. It was fun for me, but I wish we could’ve won the game.”
Iona (22-11) had no answer for Iowa State forward Georges Niang, the versatile playmaking senior who had 28 points, six rebounds and three assists, or Iowa State’s other four starters — all of whom reached double-figures. Point guard Monte Morris produced big baskets whenever the Gaels looking poised to get close, scoring 20 points, adding eight assists, and committing just two turnovers. He got plenty of support from Abdel Nader (19 points), Matt Thomas (13 points) and Jameel McKay (11 points, nine rebounds, three blocks).
“Sometimes you can sit there as a coach, you can sit there and dream if we continue to keep winning and making a name for ourselves, maybe someday we’re going to get some guys with those kind of bodies playing at Iona,” Cluess said.
In his final college game, English finished strong, scoring 28 points and adding six assists, and junior forward Jordan Washington was a force in the paint, posting a double-double of 26 points and 12 rebounds. Iona, however, was outscored, 30-21, from 3-point range, making just 7-of-24 from beyond the arc.
“We couldn’t lose it, let’s put it that way,” Cluess said, referring to the 3-point battle. “We thought we were going to have to get somewhere [between] 12 or more 3s to have a chance to win the game, to be honest with you.”
Unlike Iona’s previous trip to the NCAA Tournament, in 2013 when it lost to Ohio State by 25, the Gaels pushed Iowa State the entire 40 minutes. Trailing by 18 at one point in the second half, they were as close as seven with 2:50 left. But
English was called for a travel with a chance to get closer and then was called for a technical foul for trash talking, and McKay hit two free throws to push the lead back to 10, starting a game-clinching 11-0 run.
“There was a lot of that going on throughout the whole game,” English said of the trash-talking between the two teams. “I’m just sad that somebody had to make that call towards the end of the game. I felt like if that’s the case, if you don’t want anybody talking trash from the beginning of the game, just call it, whether it’s on me or somebody [else].
“One tech, you don’t lose a game off of one tech. But it definitely was a big call.”