Peterson: It's simple -- Cyclones just plain stunk at Iowa

IOWA CITY, Ia. — Steve Prohm said exactly what everyone who knows Iowa State basketball was thinking around 9 p.m. His Cyclones “were bad,” he said, and no one disagreed.

About a dozen missed layups in a 78-64 loss Thursday against Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena?

Bad.

Missing 22 out of 30 three-point shots?

Horrible.

Overall offensive grade?

Is there anything below an F?

“We were bad tonight,” Prohm said after his 25th-ranked team’s record fell to 6-3. “Credit Iowa. We were bad.”

So much for Iowa State’s seniors leaving school saying they never played in a losing game against Iowa.

So much for being ranked in 61 Associated Press polls in a row.

Bad. Horrible.

This team will be that way against quality opponents until someone assumes the dependable role Georges Niang provided the past few years.

He was a run-stopper. He got to the foul line. He was a mismatch. And right now, the Cyclones don’t have that consistently right now.

But back to Thursday.

"That was definitely a help last year, but we have players capable of doing some of the same type of taking over," Deonte Burton said. "We just have to do it."

Or else.

“They hit us in the mouth in the first half,” said preseason all-Big 12 point guard Monte Morris. “We played terribly. I guess they wanted it more. We struggled.”

Iowa certainly played like it wanted this game more. The Hawkeyes double-teamed whichever Cyclone had the ball first near midcourt, and from that point on, there was a whole lot of offensive confusion.

Sync?

There was no sync on this night.

There was no Georges-like player, either.

“If this doesn’t slap us in the face, then nothing will,” Naz Mitrou-Long said. “Guys are feeling it in (the locker room). I think down the road, it’ll be a good thing.”

Matt Thomas scored 14 points. Burton, Morris, Long and Nick Weiler-Babb each scored 10.

They probably all missed layups, too, and at last count, the team total was around a dozen.

“We missed a ton of bunnies,” Prohm said.

Iowa scored 11 transition points in the first half, which means the Cyclones didn’t get back much on defense. That’s got to be fixed, too, or else it’s going to be a long Big 12 Conference season.

“Chart their points in the first half out of 44,” Prohm told reporters. “How many did they get in the half-court offense, 20, maybe?”

Iowa State’s Big Three shooters of Morris, Long and Thomas were a combined 13-for-37. They missed a combined 13 of their 19 attempts beyond the arc.

“I’ll take my guys shooting the ball any given day,” Morris said. “We’re just not making shots right now.”

Iowa State isn’t making shots largely because it isn’t running any offense. For some reason, the offense gets stuck somewhere in mid-possession.

“We played bad basketball,” Long said. “It’s on us. There’s no one else to blame but ourselves. We have to keep moving the ball.

“We have weapons. We have a lot of weapons. We just have to use them.”

Iowa’s 10-0 run during which Iowa State didn’t score for five minutes also was a contributor. So was ultra-talented Peter Jok and his 23 points.

And what about those Nebraska-Omaha scores everyone compared — the Mavs’ 98-89 win against the Hawks, and the Cyclones’ 91-47 win against the Mavs?

“It’s basketball,” Morris said. “Tonight was their night.”

It certainly wasn’t Iowa State’s.

Randy Peterson, senior sports reporter, has been with the Register for parts of five decades. Randy writes opinion and analysis of Iowa State football and basketball. You can reach Randy at rpeterson@dmreg.com or on Twitter at RandyPete.