#14 Iowa State opened the season with a sellout crowd taking on a strong Oakland team. They opened up the game a little cold, leading just 16-15 midway through the 1st quarter.
Now, most fans hadn’t seen what this Oakland team was made of, but lead by sharp shooter Tommie McCune and the fundamentally sound Corey Petros. Oakland hung around looming between 5 and 15 points behind for most of the game.
A new transfer to the Cyclones, Bryce Dejean Jones, tallied 20 points on the night, showing off his agility and ability to drive to the basket. However, it appeared as BDJ wasn’t as used to the passing offense that Iowa State has (much different than UNLV’s offense.)
Crowd favorite, Georges Niang, put up a career high 30 points showing off his off-season weight loss. Niang had a couple of three-pointers that ignited the Hilton Coliseum crowd.
In fact, all the starters scored in double figures on Friday Night, the problem is the bench. Just four points coming from the non-starters during the game. The group put up just five shots. This is coming from a team that was supposed to be able to clear their bench each game.
Iowa State has a chance to improve on that and prove something as they face a big threat in Georgia State this Monday. The Panthers beat Tennessee Temple 115-55 in their season opener; and scouts from all NBA teams will be attending the game if that tells anything of the talent in this game.
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