No. 4 Iowa State Takes Down Chattanooga, 83-63

AMES, Iowa – No. 4 Iowa State rode a 24-point performance by Nazareth Mitrou-Long en route to defeating Chattanooga 83-63 Monday night at Hilton Coliseum. The win improved the Cyclones to 3-0 on the season, while the Mocs had their first loss of the season and are now 3-1.

Joining Mitrou-Long in double figures were Georges Niang with 19 points, and Monté Morris with 14 points. Morris had his second career double-double with 10 assists. Jameel McKay recorded a career-best 17 rebounds.

How it Happened
The Mocs were the first on the board, scoring the first points of the game, and then immediately making it a 4-0 lead via a full-court press steal and bucket. ISU finally got on the board from a Georges Niang lay-in, but the Mocs were soon up 7-2 on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Eric Robertson. From there, the Cyclones went on a 10-0 run, with Nazareth Mitrou-Long's 3-pointer putting ISU ahead at 9-7. ISU drained its first four 3-point attempts, with Matt Thomas' wide open trey from the top of the key ballooning the Cyclone advantage to 20-9 just seven minutes into the contest.

However, UTC was here for a battle, as they got back into the game with an 8-2 run, led by Casey Jones, who had 14 points in the first half, to lower the deficit to 22-17. The Cyclones were soon back up 10, as a Thomas 3-pointer and a Monté Morris transition jumper to get back ahead 27-17. The Cyclones were able to continue their hot shooting from deep, finishing the first period 8-of-17 from 3-point land. They also restricted Chattanooga to 0-of-7 from deep en route to a 44-29 halftime advantage.

ISU finally broke open a larger advantage in the second half, again relying on the long ball. The Cyclones poured in their first four attempts from 3-point range of the half, with Mitrou-Long's sixth 3-ball of the game giving the Cyclones a 23-point lead at 60-37. The Mocs were not ready to go away yet, cutting the lead under 20, but they were unable to sustain any momentum. ISU got its lead back up to 20 at 72-52, when Georges Niang drained a corner 3-pointer via a fancy behind-the-back pass from Matt Thomas.

Chattanooga held tough, not allowing Iowa State to pull away by too much as the game wound down. However, the offensive production of Mitrou-Long and Niang was too much and the Cyclones were able to cruise home victoriously at 83-63.

Cyclones of Note
Nazareth Mitrou-Long had his 30th career game in double figures, finishing with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 6-of-9 from 3-point land. Mitrou-Long led Iowa State with 13 first-half points.

While Jameel McKay was unable to replicate his offensive performance from the Chicago State game, he was still a beast on the boards. McKay led ISU with a career-best 17 rebounds, including 11 in the first half. His previous high was 14 against Oklahoma State last season inside Hilton. This marked the most rebounds by a Cyclone since Melvin Ejim had 18 against TCU inside Hilton in 2014.

Georges Niang had another strong offensive evening, recording 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field.

Monté Morris finished with his second career double-double, recording 14 points and 10 assists. Morris' other double-double came against Kansas last season at home, when he had 11 points and 10 dimes.

Cyclone Quick Hits
*Iowa State extended its non-conference home winning streak to 29 games, the second-longest streak in school history.
*Iowa State has hit a 3-pointer in 269 consecutive games.
*ISU restricted Chattanooga to 0-of-7 shooting from 3-point range in the first half, the first time the Cyclones have held a team without a 3-ball in the first half of a game since at Texas last season.

Up Next
Iowa State heads to Niceville, Florida for the Emerald Coast Classic. ISU's first game will be against Virginia Tech Friday at 6 p.m. The game will be shown live on CBS Sports Network.

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Team Stats

Nazareth Mitrou-Long

Georges Niang

Monte Morris

Jameel McKay

Players Mentioned

Nazareth Mitrou-Long

Georges Niang

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics