DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa State needed a career-high 37 points from Naz Mitrou-Long and a 21-4 run to close the game to hold off the Drake University men's basketball team, 97-80, in the Hy-Vee Classic Saturday evening at Wells Fargo Arena.
The contest featured nine lead changes before the Iowa State (7-3) pulled away for good behind 48.7 percent shooting in the second half. Billy Wampler (Eau Claire, Wis.) led Drake (1-9) with a career-high 23 points while De'Antae McMurray (Alton, Ill.) added a career-best 14 points in the loss as the Bulldog hit a season-high 10 three-pointers.
"We faced a very talented and well coached team tonight," said Drake head coach Jeff Rutter. "I'm certainly disappointed in the loss for our guys. They fought hard and things got away in the last five or six minutes. Our guys laid it on the line tonight. They played hard, they played together and made a lot of really good plays. We just needed to find a way to slow Naz Long down a little bit."
Mitrou-Long's 37 points came on 14-of-18 shooting and an 8-of-12 night on the three-point arc. Monte Morris added 20 points for the victors as well.
"He's a very talented and confident player," Rutter said of Long. "We tried to change up defenses some to affect their flow, but it can leave some guys open sometimes and Naz made us pay for it. Good players sometimes rise up and take on that challenge and that's what he did today."
With six minutes left in the contest, the Bulldogs tied the game for the final time at 76-76 with 6:05 remaining. From there, the Cyclones began their 21-4 run to close the game as Drake shot just 2-of-9 down the stretch.
"We got good shots down the stretch, we just didn't knock them down and then got a turnover here and there," said junior Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.) who finished with 15 points. "We just couldn't get back into it. We got a lot of good looks but we're fully confident moving forward we can execute with confidence in those situations."
Drake jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game but then missed eight straight shots and were held scoreless for nearly five minutes as ISU built up a 12-7 lead. However, the Bulldogs responded with nine-straight points via three-pointers with McMurray draining a pair to start an 18-5 run that put the Bulldogs up 25-17 with 7:40 left on a Wampler three-pointer. ISU later used a 15-4 run to take a 7-point, 42-35, lead with one minute remaining in the half before the Bulldogs answered with five-straight points in the final minute of the period to trim the Cyclones' lead to 42-40 at halftime.
Iowa State extended its lead to seven points in the first seven minutes of the second half as Drake stayed within striking distance over the next seven minutes before tying the contest at 76-76 on a pair of T.J. Thomas (Stone Mountain, Ga.) free throws. Thomas finished the game with nine rebounds while Wampler and Enevold each added seven boards. C.J. Rivers (Cahokia, Ill.) matched a career high with six assists in the loss for the Bulldogs.
Drake returns to the court on Monday evening to host South Dakota State at the Knapp Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. with the contest being broadcast on Mediacom MC22 and on ESPN Des Moines 1350-AM.
