AMES, Iowa (AP) Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said last month that forward Deonte Burton’s goal should be to get a double-double every game.
Burton got his first one out of the way Monday night, helping the 20th-ranked Cyclones through their first bout of minor adversity this season.
Monte Morris scored 18 points, Matt Thomas added 13 and Iowa State beat Mount St. Mary’s 73-55.
Burton had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Cyclones (2-0), who’ve won their first two games by an average of 30 points.
“He’s made such great strides. I’m very, very proud of him. But now he’s got to continue to push himself to make the next step,” Prohm said.
Mount St. Mary’s (0-2) got within 10 early in the second half, but six Cyclones scored during a 15-1 run that put the game out of reach.
Iowa State outrebounded Mount St. Mary’s 50-38, but it also shot an uncharacteristic 4 of 16 from 3-point range.
Nick Weiler-Babb scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting and pulled down five rebounds for the Cyclones.
“It was a win. It probably wasn’t our best performance offensively. At times defensively also,” Morris said.
Elijah Long, the brother of Iowa State’s Naz Mitrou-Long, had 19 points to lead the Mountaineers.
BIG PICTURE
Iowa State: Through two games, it’s clear the rebuilt Cyclones have a ton of talent - and they’re much deeper than they were a year ago. But fans won’t start to find out if that will translate vs. top competition until next week, when the Iowa State travels to Orlando for a tournament that could include a matchup with No. 14 Gonzaga.
Mount St. Mary’s: Long finally got to play against his brother with roughly 20 family members in attendance - and Elijah helped his team keep it respectable. The Mountaineers showed some fight too, pushing the Cyclones after falling behind by 17 at halftime.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Iowa State jumped up four spots on Monday simply by throttling Savannah State on Friday. A few more blowouts and a few more losses by teams ahead of the Cyclones could help Iowa State inch further up the poll.
SIMEON’S SUSPENSION
Iowa State announced before the game that reserve Simeon Carter had been suspended three games for violating team rules. It’s yet another setback for the once-promising recruit, who appears to be out of Prohm’s rotation for the second year in a row.
HONORING DEJEAN-JONES
Iowa State honored former player Bryce Dejean-Jones, who was killed over the summer after a promising rookie season with the New Orleans Pelicans, by wearing warmup shirts with his number. “A lot of people that didn’t know him probably had their own opinion of him. But me personally, starting with the guy and seeing how he carried himself and preparing for games, it was big time,” said Morris, who played with Dejean-Jones in 2014-15.
UP NEXT
Iowa State hosts The Citadel on Sunday, and there’s little doubt ball movement will be on the agenda in practice this week. The Cyclones had just 14 assists on 30 baskets.
Mount St. Mary’s continues a brutal stretch of nine road games to start 2016-17 when it plays Minnesota on Wednesday.
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