SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Steve Prohm era at Iowa State is officially underway as the Cyclones pulled out a 68-62 win against Colorado Friday at a neutral court in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Iowa State (1-0, 0-0 Big 12) struggled at times in the victory, most notably with offensive lulls, some sloppy play and a lack of ball movement. But most of those issues are the result of shaking off the rust in the opening game and adjusting to a new offensive system under a new coach.

“We’re still learning and Coach Prohm is still learning us,” senior Georges Niang said. 

The Cyclones managed to put up 68 points, but did so on just 2 of 10 shooting from behind the arc. Prohm said that number will probably be the smallest number of 3-point attempts all year.

Iowa State also struggled with 12 turnovers and only 12 assists on 29 made baskets, pointing to a lack of offensive flow.

“I think we can do better,” said Abdel Nader, who finished with 14 points. “I was disappointed we didn’t get 80 or 90 [points].”

Nader and Niang both pointed to the style of defense Colorado was employing, which confused the Cyclones for awhile, especially in the early going.

“It took us a while to figure out what they were really doing,” Niang said. “They weren’t really gapping us much, really just giving us lanes to the hoop all the time…and we’re so used to driving and kicking and they were just sticking to their guys.”

In the second-half, Iowa State began taking advantage of the open lanes, as Nader, Matt Thomas, Monté Morris and others were able to score easy layups after breaking through the defense.

The open driving lanes showcased a new look ISU offense, as the team attempted significantly less 3-pointers than in recent years.

“I don’t think I even attempted a three today, just because there was so much good stuff happening when we attacked the basket,” Niang said.

Under their new coach, the Cyclones will endure a learning curve as Prohm learns when to let his team play loose and go with the flow offensively and when to call plays and bring more structure to the offense.

The Cyclones frequently isolated Niang in the post, allowing him to score a game-high 17 points. 

“He did a great job of letting us play and sometimes chiming in and letting us know we needed to run a set to burn some clock, to get the shot that we need and I think that’s huge,” Niang said. “He still lets us play with freedom … but I think he’s implementing his will on when we need to do things and when we don’t need to do things.”

Prohm said it’s a learning process of deciding when to call out structured plays and when to let his team play. As the team gains more experience in game settings, those decisions will become easier to make.

Prohm and the his players have stressed defense throughout the offseason as an area they are working to improve this season, and that showed at times tonight as they held Colorado to 62 points. 

“I think we played pretty good defense,” said Jameel McKay. “We gave up a few [easy] shots … but I feel like if it wasn’t for foul trouble and stuff like that, we probably would have stayed [more] physical throughout the game.”

The Cyclones front line of Nader, Niang and McKay all found themselves in foul trouble at some point, forcing the team to spend some time in a 2-3 zone to protect the bigs from picking up more fouls. Freshman Simeon Carter is an option, but Prohm said he wanted to roll with his experienced guys in this situation.

Prior to foul trouble becoming more of a problem, the defense was tough as nails — allowing only 25 points in the first half.

“I think the biggest thing, and credit to [Prohm], is just our defense,” Niang said.  

Regardless of offensive tweaks and defensive changes, the Cyclones debuted a new era Friday night — and as expected, not everything was perfect.

“The way we’re in the passing lanes, the way we’re swarming, we have a tenacity, an identity of ours on defense,” Niang said. “That credit goes all to him.”

Iowa State debuted offensive tweaks and new defensive strategies and, as expected, things didn’t always go perfectly according to plan. Coach Prohm and the players said the expected some growing pains and learning experiences to occur.

“I knew it probably wasn’t going to be perfect today, because this was our first game against a serious, quality opponent,” Prohm said. “So it’s going to have some rough spots. Now that we’ve seen that, we know kind of where to build.”

It may not have went perfectly according to plan, and there is certainly room for improvement, but the Cyclones accomplished the most important task of the evening.

They can check off win number one of the Prohm era.

“I’m just happy to get out of here with a win,” McKay said. “This is the first game of the year, we ‘won the day’ like coach always says…We may have not beat them as good as we wanted to or play at our best, but it’s the first game. New coach, new everything.”