Bradley Is ISU's First Road Test

Iowa State (2-0, 0-0) At Bradley (0-1, 0-0)
Nov. 14, 2007 ? 7 p.m. ? Peoria, Ill. ? Carver Arena (11,060)

Radio: Cyclone Radio Network/Learfield
Talent: John Walters (pxp); Eric Heft (color)
Television: Cyclone Television Network
Talent: B.J. Schaben (pxp); Kevin Lehman (color)
Television Information: The Iowa State-Bradley game will be produced by the Cyclone Television Network...WOI-ABC in Des Moines/Ames and KCAU-ABC in Sioux City will carry the game...in all Mediacom markets besides Des Moines/Ames and Sioux City, the game will be shown on the local Mediacom connections channel. The game will also be a part of the ESPN Full Court package.

Cyclone Notebook

-Iowa State (2-0) hits the road for the first time this season, traveling to Peoria, Ill., to face the Bradley Braves (0-1)...Bradley is the first of potential four Missouri Valley opponents the Cyclones will play this season...ISU plays Northern Iowa (Nov. 27) and Drake (Dec. 5) and could meet up with Missouri State on Dec. 23 in the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic.

-Iowa State was 0-3 vs. Missouri Valley opponents last season but has a 163-95 all-time mark vs. Missouri Valley schools.

-The Cyclones opened their season last weekend at the Cyclone Challenge, defeating Winston-Salem State (58-44) and Centenary (67-57) to claim their 11th Cyclone Challenge title in 13 seasons.

-ISU has not been at full strength the whole season with its top three players (Rahshon Clark, Jiri Hubalek and Wesley Johnson) missing time with various injuries.

-Hubalek missed both exhibition games with a broken foot but returned for the Cyclone Challenge...Clark sat out the second exhibition game (EA Sports) with a sore knee...Johnson sprained an ankle and did not play in the Cyclone Challenge...his status is day-to-day for the Bradley game.

Last Time Out

-Iowa State opened its season last weekend with a pair of wins over Winston-Salem State (58-44) and Centenary (67-57) to claim the Cyclone Challenge tournament title in Ames.

-The Cyclones played without its top player, Wesley Johnson, who was sidelined with a sprained ankle...his status for the Bradley game is day-to-day.

-True freshman Craig Brackins earned MVP honors of the tournament by averaging 14.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in the two games...he posted 13 points and 10 boards in the WSSU game, becoming the first Cyclone rookie to record a double-double in their debut...he added 16 points and led ISU with four assists the next night vs. Centenary.

-Junior college transfer Bryan Petersen started at point guard in both games...along with Brackins and Sean Haluska, Petersen was among three newcomers in the starting lineup in the first two games.

-Petersen's performance in the Centenary game lifted the Cyclones to victory...the Clinton, Iowa native poured in a career-high 18 points behind a 4-of-6 effort from downtown...he joined Brackins on the all-tournament team.

-Center Jiri Hubalek saw his first competition of the season in the tournament...he missed the two exhibition games with a broken foot and is slowly getting back into playing shape...Hubalek averaged 8.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in the two games, grabbing a career-high 13 boards in the Winston-Salem State contest.

-The Cyclones had a total of nine newcomers see playing time for the first time in the two Cyclone Challenge tournament games.

-ISU struggled from 3-point range in both games, hitting just 5-of-26 shots from beyond the arc, including a 0-12 effort in the first game against Winston-Salem State to break a 63-game consecutive 3-pointer made streak...ISU had shot 47.5 percent from 3-point range in the two exhibition games, making 19-of-40 shots from downtown.

-The Cyclones showed their strength on the boards by holding a +14.0 advantage on the glass in the two games.

-ISU shot 57.1 percent from the field against Centenary, marking the first above-50 percent shooting performance since making 53.3 percent against Lake Superior State (11-25-06), ending a 26-game skein.

-The Cyclones had 10 blocks in the Winston-Salem State game and 13 for the tournament...Rahshon Clark recorded four blocks and Brackins had three.

Cyclone-Brave Quick Facts

-Bradley leads the all-time series against Iowa State at 7-4...of the 11 games played in the series, only two were competed in Iowa...the Cyclones defeated the Braves 81-62 in Ames on Dec. 8, 1973 and fell to the Braves last season, 76-66 in the final Mediacom Cyclone Capital Classic at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

-ISU is 2-6 against Bradley in games played in Peoria, losing six consecutive contests to BU in Peoria...the last time the two teams met in Peoria was a 93-72 victory for BU on Dec. 3, 1974.

-The two schools met in ISU's only game ever played out of United States territory...ISU defeated BU, 99-97 in the championship game of the Phenix NCAA Ball Tournament in Tokyo, Japan (Dec. 18, 1988).

-ISU head coach Greg McDermott has met Bradley numerous times when he was a Missouri Valley Conference rival to the Braves while at Northern Iowa...McDermott is 5-6 all-time vs. Bradley and 3-6 against Jim Les-coached Bradley teams...McDermott has lost three-straight games to the Braves.

-BU junior Tyrone Cole-Scott is from Waterloo and prepped at East High School...he scored 36 points in the Braves' 110-84 exhibition win against St. Ambrose.

-BU assistant coach Steve Merfeld was the head coach at Hampton when the Pirates upset No. 2 seed Iowa State, 58-57 in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament.

A Closer Look At Bradley (0-1)

-Bradley, picked to finish second in the preseason Missouri Valley coaches poll, lost its opener last weekend at Illinois-Chicago (84-75)...the Braves were led by Jeremy Crouch, who had 19 points behind a 5-of-7 performance from 3-point range...Daniel Ruffin had 14 assists in the game.

-The Braves return two starters from last year's NIT team in guards Ruffin and Crouch...the pair each averaged 13.8 points a game last year and are the top two returning scores in the Valley.

-Ruffin, a senior from Peoria, is a preseason first-team all-MVC selection...Ruffin is the NCAA active leader in assists with 489...he currently ranks fourth on the Bradley career assist chart...he is a preseason Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award candidate.

-Crouch, another senior hometown product from Pekin, was the nation's co-leader in 3-point percentage last season at 50 percent...Crouch, who is a preseason honorable mention Missouri Valley pick, has made 149 career treys to rank seventh all-time on the BU charts.

-Forward Matt Salley, who started 13 games a year ago, returns in the middle for the Braves...Salley averaged 7.1 points and 4.8 rebounds in 2006-07...Salley had 17 points and 10 boards in the win over ISU last year.

-The Braves combined to make 344-of-809 3-pointers last season for a 42.5 percentage...Crouch and Ruffin combined for 149 of BU's 3-pointers last year.

-Bradley head coach Jim Les is 84-74 in his sixth season with his alma mater...Les was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year in 1986...he played seven years in the NBA, leading the league in 3-point field goal percentage in 1990-91 (46.1 percent).

NBA Heritage

-Iowa State has a number of players on its roster with ties to the NBA.

-Freshman Charles Boozer and junior Sean Haluska have brothers who are on current NBA rosters. Boozer's brother, Carlos, is one of the top post players in the NBA, making the 2006-07 All-Star team. Boozer averaged 20.9 points and 11.7 rebounds in 2006-07, leading the Utah Jazz to the Western Conference Finals. He is also a member of the USA Basketball Select team that will compete for a Gold medal at the 2008 Olympics Beijing.

-Haluska's brother, Adam, who played one year at Iowa State (2002-03) before transferring to Iowa, is a rookie with the New Orleans Hornets. Haluska led the Big Ten in scoring last year, averaging 20.5 ppg while earning first-team all-Big Ten honors.

-Freshman Diante Garrett also has outstanding basketball roots. His father, Dick, played five seasons in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers, Buffalo Braves, New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks, averaging 10.3 ppg. Garrett played in the 1970 NBA Finals for the Lakers against the Knicks.

70 Is The Magic Number

-Keeping the opposition from getting into a high-scoring game increases ISU's chances of winning...in the McDermott era, ISU is 16-6 when it opponents score under 70 points...ISU has given up 70 points 11 times to its opponents since McDermott took over, going 1-10 in those games.

Not At Full Strength

-ISU as yet to play a game this season, including exhibitions, at full strength...ISU's top three players- Rahshon Clark, Jiri Hubalek and Wesley Johnson- have missed at least one of the four games this season...Clark sat out the second exhibition game (EA Sports) with a sore knee...Hubalek missed both exhibition games with a broken foot and is slowly getting back into playing shape...Johnson is the most recent Cyclone to go down...Johnson did not play in the first two regular-season games after suffering a sprained ankle...his status for the Bradley game is day-to-day...the trio combined for 30.0 points and 20.6 rebounds last season.

-Another setback for the Cyclones was when freshman Lucca Staiger was declared ineligible for the season by the NCAA Amateur Certifaction process...Staiger was expected to play major minutes at the two-guard spot...ISU is appealing the decision.

Looking For No. 400

-ISU recorded its 399th win in Hilton Coliseum against Centenary on Saturday...the Cyclones will get their first chance at 400 wins against Minnesota on Nov. 20.

Freshman Starters In Season Openers

-Heralded rookie sensation Craig Brackins, a 6-10 freshman from Palmdale, Calif., got the starting nod against Winston-Salem State in the season-opener...it marked the sixth season in a row where the Cyclones inserted a freshman into the starting lineup in the season-opener...Brackins responded with a double-double, the first Cyclone freshman to record double-digits in both points and rebounds in their first game.

-Here is a look of how the ISU freshmen starters fared in their Cyclone debut the last six seasons:

Date Player Opponent Min. Pts. R A

Nov. 9, 2007 Craig Brackins Winston-Salem St. 29 13 10 1

Nov. 10, 2006 Wesley Johnson UC Riverside 34 10 5 0

Nov. 20, 2005 Ross Marsden Mountain State 21 2 4 0

Nov. 23, 2004 Rahshon Clark Drake 28 14 2 2

Nov. 28, 2003 Curtis Stinson Mercer 31 20 6 5

Will Blalock Mercer 30 6 2 7

Nov. 25, 2002 Adam Haluska Coe 31 10 3 0

Iowa State Team Quick Facts

-Iowa State is celebrating 100 years of men's hoops this season...ISU announced a 15-player All-Century team in the summer and will play host to a centennial celebration on Feb. 15-16, inviting back all former letterwinners and coaches for a two-day celebration.

-ISU returns just one player in the backcourt that played over 100 minutes last season (walk-on Brock Jacobson played 154 minutes in 2006-07).

-ISU has 10 new members on its roster this season.

-Junior college transfers Sean Haluska and Bryan Petersen joined the team as recruited walk-ons but have been placed on scholarship for this season.

-ISU head coach Greg McDermott is the first native Iowan to coach the Cyclones since Clayton Sutherland

(1948-54)...McDermott is from Cascade; Sutherland was from Nashua.

-McDermott entered the 2007-08 season with the 55th-best winning percentage among Division I coaches.

-Iowa State failed to make a 3-pointer in its opening game vs. Winston-Salem State (0-for-12), ending a 63-game streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer.

-ISU head coach Greg McDermott has never lost a November home game in his tenure with the Cyclones, going 7-0.

-ISU ended a 26-game streak of not reaching an above-50 percent outing from the field vs. Centenary...ISU shot 57.1 percent vs. the Gents.

-ISU held Winston-Salem State to a 25.4 percentage from the floor in the first game...that total ranks 12th on ISU's opponent field goal percentage game lows chart.

Hilton Magic

-Hilton Coliseum has long been considered one of the toughest places to play in college basketball...built in 1971 and playing in its 37th season, ISU has recorded a 74.4 percent winning mark, compiling a 399-137 record.

-ISU has recorded four undefeated seasons at home since Hilton was erected (1985-86, 1992-93, 1999-00, 2000-01).

-ISU ranked 25th nationally in attendance in 2006-07 (12,489).

-ISU broke the record for most season tickets sold this year with over 10,000 season tickets purchased.

-Fans voted Iowa State and Hilton Coliseum as the nation's No. 1 team in regards to school spirit in a pll during ESPN's "student spirit" week in 2006-07.

Players Mentioned

Charles Boozer

Craig Brackins

Rahshon Clark

Rahshon Clark

Diante Garrett

Sean Haluska

Jiri Hubalek

Jiri Hubalek

Brock Jacobson

Brock Jacobson

Wesley Johnson

Wesley Johnson

Ross Marsden

Bryan Petersen

Lucca Staiger

Sponsors

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