• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Iowa State cruises by NC Central

Mar 22, 2014 - 6:02 AM San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Georges Niang led five Cyclones in double figures with 24 points and Iowa State rolled to the round of 32 with a 93-75 takedown of North Carolina Central in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Niang hit 4-of-5 from 3-point range and contributed six rebounds and four assists for third-seeded Iowa State (27-7), which will tangle with North Carolina on Sunday with an East Region Sweet 16 birth on the line. But it will be doing so without the services of the star sophomore.

Niang suffered a broken right foot late in the contest and will miss the remainder of the tournament.

"Georges has a non-displaced Jones fracture in his foot," Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg confirmed after the game. "He'll be out, obviously, the rest of this tournament. We'll miss him."

Melvin Ejim posted 17 points and eight boards, Monte Morris and Dustin Hogue netted 15 points apiece and DeAndre Kane stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, seven boards and five helpers in the triumph.

The Cyclones shot 63.6 percent and 9-of-17 from the 3-point line.

Jeremy Ingram poured in 28 points for the MEAC champion Eagles (28-6). Karamo Jawara added 16.

"If you go in our locker room right now it's like a morgue, because those kids walked into here expecting to win a basketball game," NCCU head coach LeVelle Moton said. "There are no moral victories. That doesn't count in our program."

NC Central, the 14th seed, was thinking upset early on, taking a 16-13 lead 6:09 in on Emanuel Chapman's jumper. ISU went in front on a Kane 3-pointer minutes later, and never trailed again despite the pesky Eagles keeping it close throughout the rest of the first half.

Jawara tied the score at 30-apiece with consecutive jumpers near the seven- minute mark before Ejim's slam highlighted an 8-0 Cyclones flurry. Ingram was featured during NC Central's 9-2 response, and Iowa State scored the last five points before the break to take a 45-39 lead into halftime.

Morris' 3-ball at 18:30 set the tone for the second half. Iowa State slowly built a double-digit advantage as the spread reached 68-53 at the second media timeout. It never got below 15 the rest of the way.

Game Notes

ISU won the rebounding battle, 34-24 ... The Cyclones outscored the Eagles 48-32 in the paint and 6-2 in transition ... There were seven ties and six lead changes before Iowa State pulled away ... ISU made 14-of-16 from the foul line.