The UNI player zipped by Naz Long on his way to the basket at Wells Fargo Arena late in the game Saturday, Dec. 7.

Timeout.

In the huddle, the sophomore guard was looking in every direction.

“That’s just unacceptable,” Long said Monday. “That’s something that [DeAndre] Kane let me know, that’s something Georges [Niang] let me know and Melvin [Ejim] let me know.”

To say the least, message received. That’s the way Iowa State (7-0) has operated early this season, making progress on defense a season removed the NCAA tournament and without the bulk of last season’s roster.

Last year, the Cyclones ranked 276th out of 345 teams in Division I while allowing 71 points per game. Albeit the sample size is small, Iowa State is currently ranked 95th, allowing an average of 67.6 points per game through seven games this season.

Better than last season?

“Yeah, right now, absolutely,” said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg.

The secret, players say, might be the reason Long and others were taking an earful from teammates throughout the game Saturday as the Cyclones struggled defensively through the first 23-plus minutes.

It could also be why players were giving teammates plenty of time to talk.

“We’re able to let each other know, ‘Look, that can’t happen.’ The next play, if it happens again, ‘I just told you last play,’” Long said. “So everybody’s holding each other accountable.”

Iowa State trailed in-state rival Northern Iowa by a season-high 18 points Saturday when Hoiberg called a timeout with 16:44 remaining in the Cyclones’ Big Four Classic game. At times as Iowa State struggled in the game, there appeared to be heated moments.

Hoiberg called multiple timeouts after defensive lapses.

“You guys might think it’s hollering at each other, but we take it in different,” Kane said after the game. “Guys know that when someone’s telling them something, they’re telling them to get it together. We’re not hard on each other; we just know what each other’s capable of.”

So far, no feelings have been hurt.

“I think we’ve created such a close bond with each other that people don’t listen to how other people are saying it, it’s more of they’re listening to the message,” Niang said. “If someone’s yelling at someone, they’re not taking it as, ‘Oh, you’re yelling at me. Stop yelling at me.’ It’s more like, ‘All right, I understand how serious you are. Now let’s get after it.’

“There’s nothing that anybody has said on this team to me where I go home and start to cry about it.”

The Cyclones went on a 23-2 run following Hoiberg’s second half timeout and eventually defeated the Panthers 91-82 in overtime by outscoring the in-state rival 60-33 from that point on.

Iowa State kept Northern Iowa to 25 percent when shooting from 3-point range (3-of-12) in the second half after it shot nearly 50 percent (6-of-13) in the first half.

Opponents have shot 37 percent from the field against Iowa State through seven games, and the 3.4 points per game scoring drop from last season by opponents isn’t insignificant. The first seven games have included matchups against the eighthth-ranked scoring offense in the country, Brigham Young, and a then-top-25 team, Michigan.

“I think our guys have really bought in to what we’re trying to do,” Hoiberg said. “I think we’ve done a good job of keeping teams out of the paint, we’re contesting the 3, and we’re making teams take shots kind of in that midrange, which is the lowest percentage shot.”

Aside from taking accountability, Niang jokingly provided one more reason the ISU defense has taken a step forward early on.

“I think because we don’t want to run at practice,” Niang said with a laugh before getting serious. “No, I think we’re more bought in.”