Iowa State vs. Iona: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2016

Iowa State (22-11) overwhelmed Iona (22-11) with a terrific offensive effort en route to a 94-81 victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Thursday.   

Georges Niang led the way for the No. 4 seed with 28 points, six rebounds and three assists. Monte Morris added 20 for the Cyclones, who shot 50 percent from the field, including 46 percent from beyond the arc.

A.J. English and Jordan Washington both shone in a losing effort for the Gaels. They combined to score 54 points on 20-of-38 shooting. The underdogs needed more secondary contributions against an opponent with the scoring ability of Iowa State, though.

Here's a look at how the Midwest Region battle played out:

Team	1st Half	2nd Half	Total
(4) Cyclones	45	49	94
(13) Gaels	33	48	81

Niang watched Iona play throughout the season after meeting English, the Gaels' point guard, at last summer's adidas Nations camp. Travis Hines of the Ames Tribune passed along comments from the star forward about what he learned.

"They're a really great team," Niang said. "They get up and down and do a great job of sharing the basketball and they can really score. Obviously we're going to have our hands full, but it's their will against ours."

The Cyclones certainly didn't take the Gaels lightly. They came out aggressive, pushing the pace and forcing Iona to match their athleticism.

NCAA March Madness showcased some of that early tempo from Abdel Nader and Co.:

The Gaels tried to switch up their defensive looks throughout the opening half in an effort to slow the pace. The success was limited as Iowa State continued to move the ball around well to create open looks. Matt Thomas, Morris and Niang all reached double figures before the break.

While Iona is also capable of putting up some big numbers on the offensive end, it got caught trying to beat Iowa State at its own game too often during the first 20 minutes. The result was a 12-point lead for the Cyclones at the break.

Alex Halsted of Scout pointed out that, despite the often chaotic nature of the play, things played out pretty much according to script:

Several times throughout the second half it appeared Iowa State was set to pull away. The Cyclones even picked up their play on the defensive end, as NCAA March Madness spotlighted:

But Iona continued to fight back. The Gaels managed to cut the lead to seven with nearly three minutes on the clock. But a technical foul on English for making comments directed toward the Iowa State bench heading into a timeout brought an end to that surge.

Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports noted it was a rare negative moment during an otherwise strong showing from the senior:

The Cyclones managed to hit their free throws down the stretch to close out the victory. One thing they can take away from the game, however, is a renewed focus on keeping their energy level up for 40 minutes. They got sloppy after building their lead, and it almost allowed Iona to mount a comeback.

Iowa State Athletics celebrated the triumph:

ESPN Stats and Info provided a note about the Cyclones' offensive success:

Looking ahead, Iowa State moves on to the second round, where it will face off with the winner of Purdue and Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday. The Boilermakers should hold the edge, but those 5-12 matchups always seem to produce at least one surprising result.

The Cyclones will be happy with their offensive execution against Iona. The biggest area needing improvement if they want to make a deep March Madness run is transition defense. The only time the Gaels made a serious charge was when they got a series of open looks due to missed assignments.

On the flip side, Iona just didn't have quite enough firepower to stick with Iowa State. It will lose four senior contributors—Ibn Muhammad, Aaron Rountree, Isaiah Williams and English—which means the Gaels will take on a new look when they return to action next fall.

Postgame Reaction

Varsity Insider noted Iona head coach Tim Cluess wasn't happy with the timing of the technical on English, which halted his team's late momentum.

"There was talk going on back and forth all game long," the sixth-year coach said. "The referee is standing there. Both parties were jawing at each other. Tough time to call it. I'm going to leave it at that."

On the winning side, Niang joked about the outstanding effort from the Iowa State starters, per Andrew Murawa of Rush The Court:

Cyclones head coach Steve Prohm is just happy to survive and advance so they can fight another day, according to James Stratton of KWQC.

"At the end of the two days there will be 32 teams and we're happy to be a part of it," he said.

Check out Bleacher Report's live updating bracket to track your picks along the road to the Final Four.