Sophomore guard Tyrese Haliburton flirted with a triple-double and Iowa State used first-half runs of 15-0 and 17-0 to coast to a season-opening 110-74 win over Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday night in Ames, Iowa.
Haliburton, placed on the Wooden Award preseason watch list earlier Tuesday, had 12 points, seven rebounds and 14 assists for the Cyclones (1-0), which had seven players in double figures.
Redshirt senior forward Michael Jacobson had 20, Colorado State senior transfer Prentiss Nixon had 16 in his ISU debut and sophomore forward Zion Griffin had a career-high 11 off the bench.
Iowa State forced 21 turnovers, 17 in the first half, converting those takeaways into 35 points while holding a 21-1 edge on Mississippi Valley State (0-1) in fast-break points. It assisted on 32 of 45 baskets and hit 13 three-pointers to reach triple digits for the eighth time under fifth-year coach Steve Prohm.
The Cyclones led 56-33 at halftime and were up by 30 less than three minutes into the second half, their offensive tempo and defensive aggressiveness too much for the undermanned Delta Devils, one of the worst programs in Division I the last few years. MVSU was 6-26 last season and hasn't won more than nine games since making an NCAA tournament run in 2010-11.
MVSU led 3-2 but never again, allowing 15 consecutive points after that early edge. A 12-2 run got MVSU within 19-15 with 13:07 to go but then Iowa State rattled off 17 in a row and kept its lead at 15 or more the rest of the night.
Senior guard Michael Green had 22 points and eight assists and freshman forward Richard Rivers Jr. added 12 points for MVSU, which continues a difficult seven-game road trip to start the season that will take it to Utah on Friday.
ISU returns to action Saturday at Oregon State.
--Field Level Media
Mississippi Valley State | Iowa State | |
Michael Green 22 | Scoring | Michael Jacobson 20 |
Michael Green 8 | Assists | Tyrese Haliburton 14 |
Jordan Lyons 10 | Rebounds | Michael Jacobson 9 |
Michael Green 1 | Free Throws Made | Prentiss Nixon 4 |
Michael Green 2 | Steals | Tyrese Haliburton 6 |
N/A | Blocks | George Conditt IV 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Mississippi Valley State | 74 | 41.1 | 11-29 | 3-8 | 13 | 35 | 0 | 3 | 21 |
Iowa State | 110 | 51.7 | 13-35 | 7-11 | 32 | 48 | 7 | 15 | 10 |