Morris leads Iowa State past Nevada

MILWAUKEE -- Monte Morris scored 19 points to lead fifth-seeded Iowa State to an 84-73 victory over No. 12 Nevada in an NCAA Tournament first-round contest Thursday night at the Bradley Center.

Four players scored in double figures for the Cyclones (24-10), who shot 55.6 percent from the field and made eight of 19 3-pointers to win for the 10th time in their last 11 games.

Nevada (28-7), which had won nine straight coming into the tournament, got 22 points from Cameron Oliver, 20 from Jordan Caroline and 16 from Marcus Marshall but made only 40 percent of its shots and was 8-for-26 from distance.

Click through images from the big game:

Iowa State lived up to its billing as an offensive powerhouse, shooting 58.6 percent in the first half. The Cyclones led by as many as 15 and went into halftime up 40-27, thanks to eight points from Morris, who hit a pair of 3-pointers.

The Wolf Pack came out cold, making just nine of 30 shots while going 4-of-13 from beyond the arc. Oliver scored 10 and Caroline added eight in the opening half but Nevada couldn't slow down the Cyclones.

Down 46-36 at the under-16 timeout, Nevada made a charge, outscoring the Cyclones 8-3 to get within five on a layup by Lindsey Drew with 13:41 to play. Oliver sank a 17-footer and came up with a key block during that spurt and Nevada got it down to four on a put-back by Caroline with 9:56 remaining.

But Iowa State woke up the crowd with nine straight -- including a wide-open 3 from Matt Thomas -- to go up 13 with 7:15 to play -- and after Nevada again cut the deficit to seven, Mitrou-Long buried a 3-pointer with 4:48 left.

And still, the Wolf Pack wasn't done. Nevada trimmed the Cyclones' lead to five with three minutes left but could not get over the hump; Iowa State had an answer every time and advances to face Purdue Saturday for a trip to the Sweet 16.