Fans in attendance at Hilton Coliseum on Monday night saw two completely different ISU basketball teams.

And while No. 4 Iowa State (7-0, 0-0 Big 12) beat Buffalo (4-5, 0-0 MAC) by a score of 84-63, the game was anything but smooth sailing.

Buffalo was able to hang close to the Cyclones all throughout the first half. But it wasn’t what the Bulls were doing that caused Iowa State trouble — it’s what the Cyclones weren’t doing.

Iowa State went scoreless for a 6:20 stretch in the first half, something the players blamed on a sluggish start.

“We were just having some mental lapses,” said guard Naz Mitrou-Long. “We’re an offensive-minded team. Things just weren’t falling for us.”

Iowa State went into the locker room scoring just four points in the final 9:05 of the first half, arguably the team’s worst offensive stretch all season. The Cyclones were able to keep Buffalo at bay defensively, though, and headed into halftime with a nine-point lead.

“I wouldn’t say we played bad defensively in the first half, but I think our flow really wasn’t that great on the offensive end,” said forward Georges Niang.

The second half started out reminiscent of the woeful stretches in the first 20 minutes. Iowa State continued to struggle offensively, and Buffalo cut the lead to one point with 13 minutes left in the game.

But then, things changed — and quickly.

Iowa State held Buffalo scoreless for nearly five minutes, giving the Cyclones the opportunity to create some breathing room. 

Iowa State went on a quick 11-0 run, thanks to Niang’s record-breaking night. The senior had a career-high 31 points and 12 rebounds — his third career double-double.

“I got a great core group of guys around me that really just find me in great places and make the game real easy for me,” Niang said. “As soon as I got a couple going, coach was calling my number, and Monté was finding me.”

From there on out, the Cyclones rolled offensively. The first-half struggles were forgotten by both the team and the scoreboard.

“We did what great teams do,” Morris said. “We talked about it at halftime and made adjustments. We scored 50 points in the second half. I think that’s Cyclone basketball, and coach is happy.”

Head coach Steve Prohm was happy, saying he was still impressed with the win. Even though the Cyclones struggled at times, and it wasn’t what fans may have expected, a win is a win.

And that’s what matters to Prohm.

“When you’re coaching good teams … you start evaluating wins, and you start overanalyzing wins to where a win by 20 ain’t good enough,” Prohm said. “[Buffalo is] good, and they had some stretches to where they played pretty good basketball.

“It wasn’t perfect, but we just have to stay the course, stay the course, stay the course. And eventually, we’re going to hit our stride and break the game open.”