ISU Faces Nebraska In League Home Opener

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State (11-5, 0-1) will play host to Nebraska (11-3, 1-0) in its Big 12 home opener. ISU has won its Big 12 home opener three years in a row. The ISU-NU game on Wednesday is one day shy from the 100th anniversary of the schools first meeting. The schools played their first game in the series on Jan. 15, 1909, a 42-20 Nebraska win in Lincoln.

Iowa State (11-5, 0-1) vs. Nebraska (11-3, 1-0)
When: Wed., Jan. 14, 2009 - 7:00 p.m.
Where: Ames, Iowa; Hilton Coliseum (14,356)
Live Stats: cyclones.com
Radio: Cyclone Radio Network: John Walters (pxp) and Eric Heft (color)
Television: CTN/ESPN Full Court: B.J. Schaben (pxp) and Kevin Lehman (color)
Local Affiliates: Ames/Des Moines (WOI), Quad Cities (WHBF-DT; Mediacom), Sioux City (KCAU), Cedar Rapids (Mediacom), Waterloo (Mediacom), Cedar Falls (CFU)
Webcast: ESPN360

Complete Pre-Event Coverage
Notes Webcast	_	Live Stats Newsconference

Cyclone Notebook
-Iowa State (11-5, 0-1) will play host to Nebraska (11-3, 1-0) in its Big 12 home opener...ISU has won its Big 12 home opener three years in a row.
-The ISU-NU game on Wednesday is one day shy from the 100th anniversary of the schools first meeting...the schools played their first game in the series on Jan. 15, 1909, a 42-20 Nebraska win in Lincoln.
-ISU fell to 6-7 in Big 12 openers after losing at No. 7 Texas, 75-67 Saturday afternoon...Lucca Staiger scored 15 points and handed out a career-high five assists to help him earn Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors for the second time this season.
-ISU and NU are two of the top scoring defense teams in the Big 12...the Huskers lead the Big 12 in scoring defense (55.5 ppg), while ISU ranks third in the league (60.9).
-Only four teams this year have shot above 40 percent against ISU this year, as the ISU ranks second in the league and in the top-30 nationally in FG pct. defense (38.0).
-NU leads the Big 12 in fewest turnovers (11.7)...ISU ranks second at 11.9.
-ISU is second in the Big 12 in assist/turnover ratio (1.3).

Last Time Out
-Iowa State fell at No. 7 Texas on Saturday, 75-67...the Cyclones were down by as many as 13 points in the first half, but rallied to cut it to a one-point game in the second half...it was just a 3-point game with under 12 minutes left until UT went on a 10-2 run.
-The Cyclones were led by Craig Brackins, who tallied 19 of his 20 points in the second half after getting into early foul trouble.
-The Cyclone forward has now scored 19 or more points in a half three times this year.
-Brackins, who is second in the Big 12 in scoring (18.4), grabbed 13 boards to record his second consecutive double-double.
-It was Brackins' eighth 20-point game of the season and his sixth double-double in the last 11 games.
-Lucca Staiger added 15 points on 3-of-9 shooting from 3-point range and dished out a career-high five assists in the game...Staiger has made a 3-pointer in 10-straight games and has drilled two or more long-range bombs in six consecutive games...he was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week for the second time on Jan. 12.
-True freshman Justin Hamilton continues to respond as one of ISU's starters, scoring eight points and registering 10 rebounds, his second double-digit board effort of the season...Hamilton has started the last five games for ISU, averaging 8.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in that span.
- Diante Garrett posted double figures in scoring for the fourth time in the last five games with 13 points...Garrett ranks sixth in the Big 12 in assists (5.1)...Garrett made both of his free-throws vs. Texas to keep his consecutive free-throw made streak alive at 12.
-Bryan Petersen increased his 3-pointers made in a game streak to 10 after going 2-of-7 from downtown...Petersen has 74 3-pointers in his career, needing one trey to tie for 15th all-time with Brian Pearson (1989-92) and Mike Born (1988-89).
-ISU outrebounded the bigger Longhorns, 42-38...it marked the first time this season where the Cyclones lost when outrebounding their opponent (6-1).
-ISU committed just 10 turnovers in the game, the fifth time ISU has recorded 10 turnovers or less in a game this season...ISU ranks second in the Big 12 in fewest turnovers (11.9).
-ISU had more assists (11) than turnovers (10) for the 11th time this season...ISU ranks second in the Big 12 in assist/turnover ratio (1.3 a/t).

Cyclone-Cornhusker Quick Facts
-Nebraska leads the all-time series at 129-99...it is the 100th anniversary of the team's first meeting (Jan. 15, 1909), a 42-20 win for Nebraska.
-ISU leads the series against Nebraska in games played in Ames at 59-48.
-ISU has won two in a row in games played in Hilton Coliseum after dropping back-to-back contests to Nebraska at home in 2005 and 2006.
-ISU head coach Greg McDermott owns his best winning percentage vs. a Big 12 school against NU...McDermott is 3-1 all-time vs. NU and Doc Sadler-coached teams.
-ISU won the last meeting between the two teams, 60-52 on Feb. 16, 2008 in a game played in Hilton Coliseum...the Cyclones scored just 11 points in the first half, the lowest point total in a half in the modern era (1950-present)...ISU outscored the Huskers, 49-28 in the second half...the 13-point second-half comeback marked the third-best comeback in the Greg McDermott era.
-Sean Haluska came off the bench to score all of his 12 points in the second half on 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc...Cookie Miller had 14 points to pace NU.
-ISU senior Bryan Petersen is averaging 7.5 points in two meetings vs. NU, making 4-of-10 shots from 3-point range.
-ISU sophomore Craig Brackins and NU senior Ade Dagunduro are close friends...the two grew up in the same area in Los Angeles.

A Closer Look At Nebraska (11-3, 1-0)
-Nebraska comes to Ames with an 11-3 overall mark and a 1-0 Big 12 record after a 56-51 victory against Missouri on Saturday.
-The Cornhuskers were led by Ade Dagunduro, who had 20 points and five boards.
-NU is led by senior guard Steve Harley, who has a team-high 12.6 ppg scoring average...Harley also has 32 assists and is one of the team leaders in steals with 18.
-Dagunduro, a senior forward, is an athletic wing who averages 10.9 points...Dagunduro is making 53.4 percent of his shots from the floor this year.
-Senior guard Paul Velander is having a breakout year in his final campaign...Velander is second in the Big 12 in 3-point percentage (48.1 pct.), connecting on 37-of-77 shots from beyond the arc.
-Sophomore Cookie Miller leads the team in assists, averaging 4.2 apg to rank eighth in the Big 12.
-Opponents have struggled scoring against the Huskers this year...NU ranks in the top-10 nationally and first in the Big 12 in scoring defense (55.5)...only one team has scored 66 points or more vs. the Huskers this year.
-The Huskers lead the Big 12 in fewest turnovers (11.7) and the Cyclones are second in the conference in least amount of turnovers (11.9).

Players Mentioned

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Sean Haluska

Sean Haluska

Justin Hamilton

Justin Hamilton

Bryan Petersen

Bryan Petersen

Lucca Staiger

Lucca Staiger

Lucca Staiger

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