Cyclones leave Italy unbeaten

The following release is courtesy of Cyclones.comand Iowa State athletics communications.

ROME, Italy- The Iowa State men’s basketball team capped off a perfect 4-0 record on its Italian trip with a 116-44 win over Roma Basket Thursday night in Rome, Italy.

Senior guard Scott Christopherson had the hot hand for the Cyclones, pouring in a tour-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, including a 5-of-8 effort from downtown. Christopherson drilled five of Iowa State’s 12 3-pointers in the game.

The game was never close. Iowa State led 26-12 at the end of the first quarter after shooting 68.8 percent from the field. The Cyclones ended the game making 59.1 percent from the floor.

“It was a great trip for us,” Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg said. “We bonded, got to see some great sights, and our guys really competed. We need to go home and build on what we did on this trip. It’s important we continue to move in the right direction and continue to get better.”

Sophomore Royce White had another stat-stuffing night, making 8-of-11 shots from the floor en route to 16 points. White also had team highs in assists (8) and steals (5). Melvin Ejim added 14 points and Chris Babb tallied 12 points. Anthony Booker grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

“I was really pleased with the effort again tonight,” Hoiberg added. “Our spacing was outstanding the entire trip, the guys played very unselfish and they were flying around on defense.”

Christopherson led the Cyclones in scoring on the tour at 13.8 ppg, followed by Melvin Ejim’s 12.8 scoring average. White was the team’s top rebounder and playmaker in the four games, averaging 10.8 boards and 6.3 assists, respectively.

“This trip was awesome,” Hoiberg said. “Italy is such a great country and the culture here is so much different than what our guys are used to. I really think the guys had a great time and it was very worthwhile for us.”

Iowa State StatisticsChristopherson: 22 pts (8-12 fg, 5-8 3fg), 3 reb White: 16 pts (8-11 fg), 7 reb, 8 asst, 5 stl Ejim: 14 pts (7-10 fg), 2 reb Babb: 12 pts (4-9 fg, 3-8 3fg), 5 reb, 4 asst, 3 stl Palo: 10 pts (3-6 fg, 1-3 3fg) Gibson: 9 pts (4-7 fg), 7 reb Allen: 8 pts (3-7 fg, 2-4 2fg), 5 asst, 4 reb Booker: 8 pts (4-5 fg), 11 reb, 3 stl McGee: 7 pts (3-10 fg, 1-5 3fg), 3 asst Railey: 6 pts (3-3 fg), 4 reb Sledge: 4 pts (2-2 fg), 4 asst, 2 stl Law: 0 pts, 1 reb McBeth: 0 pts, 1