Stats
Ames, Iowa --- The Minnesota State men’s basketball team closed the books on the exhibition portion of its schedule Saturday afternoon playing to a 90-57 loss to NCAA Division I and Big XII member, Iowa State in front of 12,894 fans in Hilton Coliseum on the campus of Iowa State University.
“I am proud of the way we competed tonight,” said head coach Matt Margenthaler. “I’m extremely pleased with how we closed the first half and started the second half. We have a lot of positives that we can take out of both of our exhibition games and I’m excited to start the season next week.”
The game consisted of three runs which really set the tone. Iowa State used an 18-3 run over nine minutes and ten seconds in the first half to turn a 21-12 lead into a 39-15 lead before sophomore guard Zach Monaghan drilled a three to end the bleeding.
Monaghan’s three prompted a Minnesota State run of 27-5 which spanned the last four minutes of the first half and the first four of of the second half, trimming the Iowa State advantage to 44-40 with 15:48 remaining, prompting an Iowa State timeout.
Following the Cyclone timeout, Iowa State put the game out of reach with 46-17 to close the game.
The Cyclones finished the game shooting 50.7 percent from the floor while MSU hit on 31.4 percent. Monaghan led all Mavericks in scoring with 14 points, while sophomore forward #Assem Marei# contributed 11 points and seven rebounds. Junior forward #Connor O’Brien# added seven points and a team-high 13 rebounds.
Iowa State hit 51.7 percent of his three-point opportunities, connecting on 15-of-29 attempts.
Minnesota State opens its 91st season of basketball Saturday evening as it hosts Bethany Lutheran College at 7 p.m.
Connor O'Brien talks about the loss:
