ISU Shows Dominance Over Iona in First Round

On Thursday, March 17, 2016, the four-seeded Iowa State Cyclones met the thirteen-seeded Iona Gaels. ISU would be the first of three Iowa teams competing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, with both Iowa and UNI playing the following day, Friday, March 18, 2016. The Cyclones would be led by seniors Georges Niang, Jameel McKay, and Abdel Nader as well as two juniors.
The game started off decent for the Gaels, taking the first five points off a layup from Jordan Washington and then a three Isaiah Williams, but that would basically be all the went well for Iona. The Iowa State Cyclones responded with two quick threes to take the lead, and they would never give it back. Following the three from Iowa State, Iona Gaels player A.J. English missed a three of his own and the Cyclones rebounded the ball and got it to Niang who hit yet another three for the Cyclones to increase their lead to 4 points 9-5. Throughout the rest of the period, Iowa State continued to increase their lead as the Gaels could just not overcome the ever-increasing deficit. By the time the halftime buzzer sounded, the Cyclones held a 12-point 45-33 lead.
The second half didn't go much better for the Iona Gaels as they were just never able to gain enough momentum to really cut at Iowa State's lead. It seemed as though every time the Gaels would get something going, the Cyclones would respond with a basket to destroy their confidence. Overall, the Iowa State Cyclones managed to outscore the Gaels 49-48 in the second half to come away with a 94-81 lead in a nice show of dominance. This was a great start for the teams coming from the state of Iowa.