No. 7 Iowa State beats Colorado 68-62

No. 7 Iowa State beats Colorado 68-62

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Steve Prohm's Iowa State debut was a success.

Georges Niang scored 17 points, and the seventh-ranked Cyclones held off Colorado 68-62 on Friday in Prohm's first game as coach.

Abdel Nader had 14 points and Naz Mitrou-Long scored 13 for the Cyclones, who held the Buffaloes to just 36.5 percent shooting.

Niang, a preseason All-American, also had a pair of assists — including an alley-oop pass to Jameel McKay that put Iowa State ahead 64-57 with 1:13 to go.

'The first game of the year, so it ain't always going to be pretty,' Prohm said.

George King had 14 points for Colorado, which was picked seventh in the Pac-12's preseason media poll. The reserve was 4 for 8 from 3-point range.

Prohm, who was 104-29 in four seasons at Murray State, replaced Fred Hoiberg in May after Hoiberg jumped to the Chicago Bulls. Prohm promised the Cyclones would look very similar to Hoiberg's high-scoring teams, but with an added emphasis on defense and rebounding.

Iowa State made progress on both counts in the opener. The Cyclones allowed Colorado to hit nine 3s on a litany of clear looks, but they forced 18 turnovers.

'Our guys were resilient. I thought we defended well for really long spurts,' Prohm said. 'I thought we rebounded well, kept them off the glass.'

Neither team could get much going before Iowa State scored eight straight to take a 30-25 lead. The Cyclones (1-0) really got going after the break.

Spurred on by a pro-Iowa State crowd, the Cyclones started attacking the basket and jumped ahead 40-27. Colorado responded with an 11-0 run, but the Cyclones led the entire half.