North Dakota is ISU's Final Non-Conference Test

IOWA STATE (9-5, 0-0) VS. NORTH DAKOTA (10-3, 0-0)
Jan. 5, 2008 ? 7 p.m. ? Ames, Iowa ? Hilton Coliseum (14,376)
Radio: Cyclone Radio Network/Learfield
Talent: John Walters (pxp); Eric Heft (color)
Television: Mediacom
Talent: B.J. Schaben (pxp); Kevin Lehman (color)
Webcast: Clone Zone

Cyclone Notebook
-Iowa State (9-5) finishes off its non-conference portion of its schedule with a Saturday battle against North Dakota (10-3) in Hilton Coliseum.
-The Cyclones have won six of their last seven games and five-straight non-conference home games.
-ISU is coming off a 72-48 win over USC Upstate on Wednesday...ISU shot above 50 percent from the field for the fifth time this season, connecting on 56.9 percent of its shots from the floor, the second-best percentage of the season.
-In its last six games, ISU has made 50.1 percent of its shots from the floor after shooting just 41.0 percent of its shots through its first eight games.
-ISU is 7-2 when Craig Brackins, Wesley Johnson, Jiri Hubalek, Rahshon Clark and Bryan Petersen start the game...ISU is 2-3 with other starting combinations.
-Hubalek is shooting 58.0 percent from the field in his last seven games, making 40-of-69 shots from the field.
-Clark is closing in on 1,000 points in his career...the senior needs 34 points to become the 26th member of the ISU 1,000-point club.
-ISU is 8-0 when outshooting its opponents and 7-0 when outrebounding its opponents.

Last Time Out
-Iowa State overcame its turnover problems by shooting 56.9 percent from the field en route to a 72-48 win over USC Upstate Wednesday night.
-ISU committed 17 turnovers, 13 in the first half, but the Cyclones achieved their second best shooting performance of the season and their fifth above-50 percent shooting night in the win.
-ISU is now 8-0 this season when outshooting its opponent, as the Cyclones held the Spartans to 37.5 percent from the floor.
-It was the third time this season where ISU held an opponent to under 50 points (Winston-Salem State; Iowa).
-ISU had three players in double figures, led by Jiri Hubalek's 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field...Hubalek scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half.
-Wesley Johnson added 12 points, making 2-of-7 shots from downtown...Johnson has made 10 treys in his last three games and has 19 3-pointers in 10 games this season.
-Bryan Petersen had four assists and six points...his back-to-back 3-pointers in the second half helped ISU halt an Upstate comeback after the Spartans had cut the lead to seven points.
-Petersen leads the team in 3-pointers made, connecting on 22-of-57 shots from downtown (38.6 percent) this season.
-The Cyclones owned the battle of the boards, outrebounding Upstate, 37-22 for their largest rebounding margin of the season.
-Craig Brackins, who tallied all 10 of his points in the first half, grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
-ISU tallied a season-high 10 steals with freshman walk-on Cameron Lee coming off the bench to notch two...he has five steals in the last two games.
-Despite its high turnover total, ISU still managed to have more assists (19) than turnovers (17) for the ninth time in the last 11 games.
-Freshman Diante Garrett paced ISU with a career-high six dimes.
-ISU has scored 68 or more points in its last six games, averaging 76.3 ppg in that span.

Cyclone-Fighting Sioux Quick Facts
-Iowa State and North Dakota will meet for the first time on Saturday.
-ISU head coach Greg McDermott got his first coaching job as an assistant at North Dakota from 1989-94...the Fighting Sioux made five NCAA Division II appearances, won two North Central Conference crowns and compiled a 126-37 mark while McDermott was on Rich Glas' staff...Glas is now an assistant at UNI.
-ISU is 25-3 all-time against teams in the North Central Conference...ISU played North Dakota State last season, a former member of the North Central Conference which is now in the Summit League...McDermott was the head coach at North Dakota State for one season (2000-01).
-McDermott is 1-1 all-time as a head coach against North Dakota.
-UND head coach Brian Jones is a 1994 Northern Iowa graduate and was an assistant on Steve Alford's Iowa staff from 1999-2006...Jones and McDermott played at UNI when Cyclone Television Network color man Kevin Lehman was an assistant coach with the Panthers.
-Lehman later became head coach at Nebraska-Omaha and hired Jones as an assistant coach from 1996-98.
-UND assistant coach Ryan Moody was also an assistant coach for Lehman at UNO from 1997-2001.
-UND assistant coach Chris Johnson is a 1998 graduate of Central College in Pella.

A Closer Look At North Dakota (10-3)
-North Dakota is riding a 10-game winning streak after dropping its first three games this season...the Fighting Sioux are fresh off a 70-52 win over Bemidji State at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
-Senior forward Emmanuel Little paced UND with a double-double, tallying 18 points and 11 boards.
-Little, a 6-5 native of Chicago, is one of the top returnees in the North Central Conference...Little led the NCC in rebounding last year at 8.1 rpg.
-Little is currently second on the team in scoring (16.8 ppg) and paces the Fighting Sioux on the boards at 7.2 rpg.
-Little was named NCC Player of the Week on Dec. 24 after averaging 22.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in wins over Mayville State and Upper Iowa...he scored a career-high 33 points vs. Mayville State.
-Senior guard Ervin Youmans leads UND in scoring at 17.4 ppg...Youmans is shooting 63.4 percent from the floor, 53.7 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line...he has a team-high 29 treys.
-As a team, the Fighting Sioux are shooting an impressive 50.4 percent from the floor through 13 games.
-UND has had a player score 20 points or more in 10 of 13 games this year.
-UND is averaging 8.8 steals per game this season.

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 22-9 when its opponents score under 70 points...ISU has given up 70 points 14 times to its opponents since McDermott took over, going 2-12.

Congratulations Graduates!
-ISU has two members of its team who graduated in December and are currently enrolled in graduate classes in seniors Jiri Hubalek and Mark Currie.
-Hubalek earned a degree in liberal arts and sciences and Currie graduated in civil engineering.

Assists Are Up; Turnovers Are Down
-ISU has done a remarkable job in fixing its early season distribution and turnover problems...in its first three games, ISU dished out only 38 assists (12.6 apg) and committed 56 turnovers (18.7 tpg).
-Since then, the Cyclones have handed out 161 assists (14.6 apg) and committed just 128 turnovers (11.6 tpg) in their last 11 games...ISU has committed 10 or less turnovers in six of its last 10 games.
-ISU has recorded 18 or more assists in four of its last six games, averaging 16.5 assists per game in that span.

Offensive Resurgence
-To say the Iowa State offense has been on its mark in its last six games is an understatement...the Cyclones struggled in the early part of the season primarily because three of its top scorers were battling injuries.
-With the Cyclones finally getting through their injury bug, the ISU lineup has been running on all cylinders.
-In its last six games, the Cyclones are averaging 76.3 points, shooting 50.1 percent from the field (162-323 FG), hitting 74.0 percent (94-127 FT) of its free-throws and making 37.4 percent (40-107 3FG) of its shots from downtown.
-Through eight games this season, the Cyclones were averaging 57.2 ppg, which ranked 318 of 328 Division I teams in scoring average...ISU has now moved its scoring average total to 65.4 ppg this season.

Free-Throw Shooting
-ISU has been a solid free-throw shooting team all season, making 70.1 percent of its shots from the charity stripe to rank fourth in the Big 12.
-The Cyclones have improved dramatically in recent games, connecting on 76.1 percent (83-109 FT) of their shots at the foul line in the last five games.
-ISU's starting five (Bryan Petersen, Wesley Johnson, Rahshon Clark, Craig Brackins, Jiri Hubalek) are all hitting at 72.1 percent or above on the season for a combined 76.8 percentage (129-168 FT) at the charity stripe.
-Senior Jiri Hubalek ranks seventh in the Big 12 in free-throw percentage at 76.9 percent...Hubalek has made 26-of-31 free-throws (83.8 percent) in his last six games.
-Not only is ISU connecting on its shots from the line, it is getting there more often...through ISU's first seven games, the Cyclones shot 100 free-throws...ISU has shot 154 foul shots in its last seven games...ISU has shot 30 or more free-throws in two of its last four games.

Tough Defense
-ISU has been successful at limiting its opponents from successful shooting nights...the Cyclones are holding their opponents to 40.1 percent shooting from the floor to rank sixth in the league in field goal percentage defense...only five teams this season (Bradley, Drake, Bethune-Cookman, Purdue, Alabama) have shot above 43.0 percent against the Cyclones.
-The Cyclones have held two teams (Winston-Salem State; Oregon State) to below 30 percent shooting from the field.

Defense In The Mac Era
-ISU head coach Greg McDermott has always been a proponent of sound defense and his teams have responded to his coaching...in his second year at the helm, ISU has held 20 teams to below 40 percent shooting, including six this season.
-ISU has held its opponents to under 60 points 14 times in the Mac era.

Scoring In Bunches
-ISU has many players who have the ability to record a lot of points in a short period of time.
-Six times this season, a Cyclone has recorded 13 or more points in a half...Craig Brackins had 17 points in the first half vs. Minnesota and Wesley Johnson recorded 17 second-half points vs. Albany.
Top ISU Individual Half Scoring Totals
17 Craig Brackins, 1st half vs. Minnesota
17 Wesley Johnson, 2nd half vs. Albany
16 Jiri Hubalek, 2nd half vs. Purdue
15 Jiri Hubalek, 1st half vs. Texas Southern
13 Jiri Hubalek, 1st half vs. Albany
13 Wesley Johnson, 2nd half vs. Purdue
-In the Albany game, Johnson scored 15 consecutive ISU points on five-straight possessions in a three-minute span.
-Against Purdue, Hubalek recorded ISU's first 16 points of the second half in a five-minute span.

Clark Finishing Up Outstanding Career
-Senior Rahshon Clark is in his fourth season as a starter for the Cyclones and is no question one of the team leaders...Clark has started 92 career games and in 46 consecutive games.
-Clark is the only four-year player left on the ISU roster and stuck with Coach McDermott when most of his teammates left after former coach Wayne Morgan was relieved of his duties.
-Clark is one of the most athletic and dynamic players in the Big 12...possessing a 39-inch vertical step jump, Clark's high-flying dunks have excited the Hilton crowd since 2004-05...Clark has 68 career dunks.
-Clark has jumped out to a fantastic start to 2007-08, averaging 10.6 points and 5.4 rebounds...he is shooting 56.7 percent from the floor (55-97 FG)...he has been above 50 percent from the field in 11 of 14 games this season.
-Clark is closing in on an unique mark in Cyclone history...he needs four steals to become the first player in school history to rank in the career top-10 in steals (13th-130), blocks (6th-93) and 3-pointers (9th-93).
-Clark earned all-tournament honors at the Las Vegas Classic.
-Clark needs 34 points (966) to become the 26th member of the 1,000-point club.
-Clark has established himself as one of the top shot blockers in the Big 12 this season (T-7th-1.43 bpg)...Clark is tied for the team lead with 20 swats.
-He needs three boards to crack the ISU career top-20 in rebounds.
-Clark has excelled at being ISU's go-to defensive stopper, always drawing the assignment of guarding the opposing team's top offensive perimeter player.

Brackins Making Solid Debut
-Heralded rookie sensation Craig Brackins, a 6-10 freshman from Palmdale, Calif., has been impressive in his inaugural season...Brackins, who has started every game so far, was outstanding in his first career game, recording a double-double vs. Winston-Salem State, the first Cyclone freshman to record double-digits in both points (13) and rebounds (10) in their first game.
-Brackins is third on the team in scoring at 11.1 ppg and has two double-doubles and two 20-point games.
-Brackins has scored in double figures in eight of 14 games this season...he posted a career-high 23 points vs. Minnesota, tying for the 16th-best scoring output by a freshman in school history...Brackins had 17 of his 23 points in the first half vs. the Gophers.
-He equaled his scoring standard with 23 points against Oregon State, becoming just the sixth freshman in school history to have multiple games of 23 points or more.
-Brackins is trying to become just the third rookie in ISU history to start every game of their first season: Ron Harris (27-27, 1980-81) and Adam Haluska (31-31, 2002-03).
-He is T-7th in the Big 12 in blocks (1.43 bpg)...he is tied for the team lead in blocks with 20 and has a block in 13 of 14 games.
-For post player, Brackins is a great passer, ranking third on the team in assists at 1.9 apg.

Hubalek's Improvement
-Jiri Hubalek, a senior center from Prague, Czech Republic, has been a man on a mission in his last seven games.
-Hubalek had been slowed all season by a broken foot that occurred in the preseason and is now just hitting his stride.
-Hubalek always has been a slow starter...he averaged 7.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in his first six games last year, but responded by averaging 12.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in his last 19 games a year ago.
-This year, Hubalek averaged 7.8 points and shot 40 percent (22-55 FG) in his first seven games...however, Hubalek is averaging 16.4 points (115) and is shooting 58.0 percent (40-69 FG) in his last seven games.
-Hubalek ranks seventh in the Big 12 in free-throw percentage (76.9) and has made 83.9 percent (26-31 FT) of his foul shots in the last six games.
-Hubalek has led ISU in rebounding in 10 of 14 games this season and currently ranks fifth in the Big 12 on the boards with a 7.7 rpg average...his rebounding numbers are even more significant when you take into consideration he is averaging just 23.1 minutes per game.
-Hubalek opened the second half vs. Purdue by scoring ISU's first 16 points in just over a five-minute span...he ended the game with 18 points to help him earn all-tournament honors at the Las Vegas Classic.
-He is tied for first on the team in double-doubles (2) and 20-point games (2) and has a team-high four double-digit rebounding efforts.

Wesley Johnson On The Mend
-ISU's top returning scorer from last season Wesley Johnson got off to a slow start because of injuries...Johnson missed the first four games of the season while nursing a bone bruise in his left foot.
-Although not at 100 percent, Johnson's progress is a positive sign for the Cyclones...Johnson is averaging a team-high 12.4 points and has 19 3-pointers in 10 games.
-In his last four games, Johnson is averaging 16.8 points behind a 23-of-44 effort (52.3 percent) from the field...he has scored 20 points or more in two of his last three games.
-Johnson tied his career high with five treys against Albany, scoring 15 points on five-straight possessions in a 3-minute span.
-Johnson is 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) from downtown in his last three games.
-Johnson has seven double figure scoring games and has led ISU in scoring four of 10 games played this year.

Garrett Fitting In
-ISU's improved play has a direct correlation with freshman reserve point guard Diante Garrett's emergence as a leader on the team.
-Garrett is ISU's best dribble penetrator and his ability to get into the paint in recent games as made ISU a much more potent offense.
-Garrett averages 6.4 ppg, 2.4 apg and leads the team with 17 steals.

You're In Good Hands With Petersen
-ISU starting point guard Bryan Petersen may not be the flashiest player, but he has done a tremendous job of starting ISU's offense and taking care of the ball.
-Petersen leads ISU in assists (3.6) and ranks fifth in the Big 12 in assist/turnover ratio at 2.22 a/t.
-Petersen has put together an amazing streak of ball protection and efficiency...the recruited walk-on who is now on scholarship has 33 assists and just five turnovers in his last seven games.
-Petersen is averaging 5.6 assists in his last five games, including a career-high eight assists vs. Albany.
-Petersen, who averages 6.2 ppg, has hit a team-high 22 3-pointers to boot...22 of his 24 field goals this season have come from long distance.

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.
-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 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.
-ISU is 8-0 when shooting better than its opponent and 1-5 when shoots worse than its opponent.
-ISU is 7-0 when outrebounding its opponents and 2-5 when getting outrebounded or tying with its opponent on the boards.
-Usually in a basketball game the team that reaches 40 points first is in the drivers seat to win...ISU has reached 40 points first in 12 of 14 games this season, going 9-3 in those games.
-ISU recorded the 400th win in Hilton Coliseum on Dec. 8 against Iowa (56-47).
-ISU has held three teams to under 50 points (Winston-Salem State, Iowa, USC Upstate.

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 404-139 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 poll during ESPN's “student spirit” week in 2006-07.

Cyclones Sign Four
-Iowa State head coach Greg McDermott picked up four players who signed letters of intent to play basketball at Iowa State next season:
Dominique Buckley, G, 6-2, 190, Fr., Detroit, Mich. (Romulus)
Wes Eikmeier, G, 6-3, 175, Fr., Fremont, Neb. (Bergan)
Justin Hamilton, C, 6-11, 220, Fr., Alpine, Utah (Lone Peak)
Clinton Mann, F, 6-7, 220, Fr., Overland Park, Kan. (St. Thomas Aquinas)

North Dakota is ISU's Final Non-Conference Test

Players Mentioned

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Dominique Buckley

Rahshon Clark

Rahshon Clark

Mark Currie

Mark Currie

Wes Eikmeier

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Justin Hamilton

Jiri Hubalek

Jiri Hubalek

Wesley Johnson

Wesley Johnson

Cameron Lee

Cameron Lee

Clinton Mann

Bryan Petersen

Bryan Petersen

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics

North Dakota is ISU's Final Non-Conference Test

Related News

Players Mentioned

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Dominique Buckley

Rahshon Clark

Rahshon Clark

Mark Currie

Mark Currie

Wes Eikmeier

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Justin Hamilton

Jiri Hubalek

Jiri Hubalek

Wesley Johnson

Wesley Johnson

Cameron Lee

Cameron Lee

Clinton Mann

Bryan Petersen

Bryan Petersen

Related Videos

Sponsors