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Niang leads Iowa State past Little Rock 78-61

Sports

March 19th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

DENVER (AP) — Georges Niang scored 28 points and Iowa State kept Josh Hagins from any more second-half heroics in a 78-61 win over Little Rock in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. The Cyclones (23-11) advanced to their second Sweet 16 in three years. They will play the Virginia-Butler winner in Chicago next weekend.

Niang, the winningest player (97) in Cyclones history and Iowa State’s only two-time All-American, was simply too much for the 12th-seeded Trojans (30-5) of the Sun Belt. For the second straight game, Hagins had just two points at halftime. Unlike last time, when he went off for 29 more in a double-overtime win against Purdue, Hagins added just six after the break.