It wasn’t always pretty, but the Cyclones came away with the result they were looking for — a win. For the fifth straight year, ISU coach Fred Hoiberg and the Cyclones start the season 1-0 after a 93-82 win against Oakland.

While the win was not dominant by most accounts, Iowa State appears to be in good hands with Georges Niang putting in a dominant performance in his first official game return after injuring his foot in the NCAA tournament last season.

His off-season body transformation appears to be nothing but positive for Niang, who scored a career-high 30 points, pulled down nine rebounds and dished out five assists. His performance gave him 1,019 career points, becoming one of 31 Cyclones to score 1,000, but he’s not satisfied with the team’s performance.

“It’s cool, [but it is] a minor accomplishment to want I want to do with this team,” Niang said. “[The game] was a little disappointing defensively … Everyone needs to look themselves in the mirror, including me, and really work on getting stops down the stretch.”

Oakland’s Corey Petros gave Iowa State fits all game, scoring 25 points and dominating the paint with undersized big men Georges Niang and Daniel Edozie guarding the post. Guard Kahlil Felder also found success against the Cyclones, using his speed and range to put up 23 points and dish out 10 assists.

But season openers are often for knocking off the rust, and Iowa State did a bit of that. However, it is what the Cyclones did not have that gives Hoiberg hope that these early season games may not be what the team is fully capable of accomplishing. Without the services of Matt Thomas and Abdel Nader, who are both serving suspensions for violation of team rules, and Jameel McKay, who has to sit until December due to transfer rules, Iowa State only scratched the surface as far as roster goes. 

“I thought when we extended the lead we finally started to get stops,” Hoiberg said. “I think we’ve got guys who can do it. Obviously, we’re thin on numbers right now, but when we get our full roster, I’m excited to see what we can do on the defensive end.”

Even with the absence of potential stars, Iowa State continued its trend of high scoring offenses under Hoiberg. The starting five — Monte Morris, Bryce Dejean-Jones, Naz Long, Dustin Hogue and Niang — combined for 89 of the team’s 93 points.

Highly-anticipated transfer Bryce Dejean-Jones didn’t disappoint, recording the team’s first double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Monte Morris finished with 14 points and three assists, garnering praise from Hoiberg as the pilot of the team at the point position.

Despite only an 11-point win in a game that odds makers had Iowa State tabbed as 20-point favorites, Hoiberg knew Oakland would not lie down. 

“I knew this would be a tough test. I didn’t think we’d come in here and roll over theses guys,” Hoiberg said. “I knew they’d come out and play us well and they did and give a lot of credit to Oakland for that.”

Iowa State will return to Hilton Coliseum for its second game of the season at 8 p.m. Nov. 17 as they take on Georgia State.