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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: DENVERMarch 17, 2016Steve ProhmGeorges NiangMonte MorrisDenver, Colorado Iowa State - 94, Iona - 81 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Iowa State. Coach, just give us some thoughts on today's game. COACH PROHM: It was a great win. Really excited for our school, our fans, for our players and staff. Iona is a terrific basketball team. It's a team you have to play for 40 minutes. You can't have any letups because they're so capable offensively. I thought our first-half defense was really good. Gave us a double-digit lead going into half. We kind of traded buckets in the second half, but were able to finish the game. Now we're on to the next round. Saturday there will be only 32 teams left when we start and we're proud to be part of it. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student-athletes at this time. Q. Georges, anything change for you in the second half that allowed you to shoot so well? GEORGES NIANG: You know, I just live by the motto: The more you put up there, the more you have a chance to score, right? The guys were telling me to stay confident, you've been knocking those shots down all year. That's what I did, tried to get the ball to the front of the rim. I think coach drew up a couple plays that helped me get there. Once I got a rhythm going, I felt like there was no turning back. Q. Georges, how motivated were you after what happened last year in the first round? GEORGES NIANG: Man, I just felt like since Sunday, that's all we've been hearing is Iona is going to upset Iowa State, A.J. English, A.J. English, A.J. English. I was like, What about the Iowa State Cyclones? They're pretty good? I know talking with this guy, Monte and coach, this is motivation. We really wanted to beat these guys to show people we're real. This is a real team we have here. Q. Monte, how did the shoulder feel? Were you worried about it at all going into the game? MONTE MORRIS: The shoulder felt great. I take my hat off to Vic Miller, our doc. We got a great training staff. They did everything for me these past weeks get me back feeling good. I think yesterday in practice let me know mentally that I will be able to shoot the ball at an efficient rate. Coach had a great game plan, put us in the best position. We went out and executed tonight. Q. Georges, I believe starting five combined to score 92 of the 94 points. Is that a type of form you can sustain over the course of the tournament? GEORGES NIANG: Who scored the other two points, Coach Prohm? (Laughter). No, that's how we've been doing it all year. Don't count Deonte Burton or Hallice Cooke or Jordan Ashton short. When those guys get in there and get their looks, we have a good feeling it's going in. We are confident in our bench. We like the matchups with our starting five. I think they got into a good groove early in the game. This game was so different, getting up and down. It was really a track meet. We really had to roll with who was cooking early. Q. Obviously you know how big of a factor Monte is for your offense. Coming into the week until now, what was your worry level? When did you realize that you were back? MONTE MORRIS: I think in warmups I made a couple of shots. There wasn't no pain. I just know even if I wasn't myself, the only worry I had was really just losing this game again. If I wasn't going to be able to get it going offensively, I was going to do everything I could on the defensive end to be successful because I didn't want that feeling. Nobody on our roster did. Because it was sickening last year. GEORGES NIANG: I mean, yesterday really at shootaround, I was getting my shots. I was really looking at this guy, to see how he was moving. The way he was shooting the ball and moving around, I knew he was going to be good. This kid is a warrior. I can't say enough being a senior, appreciating him fighting through an injury to make my season longer. That really means a lot. Like we say all the time, you have a brother for life with each other. THE MODERATOR: We'll dismiss the student-athletes at this time. Thank you, men. We'll continue with questions for Coach Prohm. Q. How concerned were you with Monte's condition and his injury and how much it would affect the game? COACH PROHM: Really wasn't worried about his conditioning. But with the way Iona plays, I was concerned about his health because you need a lead point guard to handle their pressure, handle their changing defenses, making sure you're running a good zone offense, a guy who can make decisions. So we needed him to play well today. When he made his first shot, then he made another three, he kind of had his swagger back. I knew he was going to have to play well for us to be successful today. When we played well this year, Monte's had great games. Q. When Georges wasn't shooting as well as he normally does, it was Monte, but also Abdel that was able to give you a lift early. Talk about how he played. COACH PROHM: Georges, he was 3-12, but if you look at some of those shots, those are shots he's been making for four years here. He didn't get a couple bounces. But Monte stepped up, made big shots. Nader stepped up, made big baskets, Thomas as well. Dooley got in foul trouble. That's what we call Nader. He was able to respond in the second half and come back and play well again. But, you know, I thought Georges was getting the ball where we needed him to. He missed some shots. Second half obviously he was a lot better. Q. First year here at Iowa State, any pressure the monkey is off your back that you didn't have the first-round upset? COACH PROHM: Now you got the pressure to go to the Sweet 16. There's a constant pressure in this business. But you want to be at jobs where there's pressures and expectations or really what are you coaching for and what are you playing for? This is a great tournament. We're blessed to be here and we're really excited about our opportunity on Saturday. THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time, coach. COACH PROHM: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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