ISU Closes Non-Conference vs. Houston Baptist

AMES, Iowa--Iowa State (10-4), winners of its last three games, will wrap up its non-conference portion of its schedule on Tuesday by playing host to Houston Baptist (1-14). The Cyclones are aiming for their 11th win in the non-conference season vs. HBU. ISU has not recorded 11 wins before beginning conference action since tallying 12 wins in the preseason of the 2000-01 campaign.

Iowa State (10-4) vs. Houston Baptist (1-14)
When: Tue., Jan. 6, 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: None
Webcast: Clone Zone subscription on cyclones.com

Complete Pre-Event Coverage
Notes Webcast	_	Live Stats Weekly Newsconference

Cyclone Notebook
-Iowa State (10-4), winners of its last three games, will wrap up its non-conference portion of its schedule on Tuesday by playing host to Houston Baptist (1-14).
-The Cyclones are aiming for their 11th win in the non-conference season vs. HBU...ISU has not recorded 11 wins before beginning conference action since tallying 12 wins in the preseason of the 2000-01 campaign.
-ISU will start Big 12 play at nationally ranked Texas on Saturday...UT will be the first ranked team ISU will face this season.
-The Cyclones rank second and third in the Big 12, respectively, in field goal percentage defense (37.9 percent) and scoring defense (60.3 ppg).
-ISU leads the Big 12 in fewest turnovers at 11.8 tpg.
-The Cyclones rank third in the Big 12 in 3-pointers made per game (8.1)...ISU has hit 10 or more treys in a game six times this season...ISU failed to reach 10 3-pointers in a game once last season.
-ISU is 23-0 in the McDermott era when holding an opponent to under 60 points.
-ISU is 10-0 on the season when shooting better than its opponent and 0-4 when its opponent has a better shooting percentage.

Last Time Out
-Iowa State shot a season-high 59.3 percent from the field in a 91-55 victory over SIU Edwardsville Saturday night in Hilton Coliseum.
-The 91 points scored by the Cyclones was a season high and the most for ISU in the McDermott era.
-The 36-point margin of victory was the highest for the Cyclones since beating Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 90-46 (44 points) on Dec. 31, 2002.
-ISU was clicking on all cylinders, as all 13 Cyclones who played in the game scored, led by true freshman Justin Hamilton's career-high 16 points...Hamilton, who was 7-of-9 from the floor, is 12-of-18 from the field and averaging 8.6 points and 7.0 rebounds in his last three games since being inserted into the starting lineup.
-ISU outrebounded (38-21) and outshot (59.3%-40.4%) the Cougars...the Cyclones are 6-0 when outrebounding their opponent and 10-0 when tallying a better shooting percentage than their opponent this season.
-Bryan Petersen registered double figures in scoring for the second-straight game with 13 points...Petersen posted a perfect line, going 3-of-3 from the field, 3-of-3 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe...Petersen's is tied with Julius Michalik and Elmer Robinson at No. 17 on ISU's career 3-pointers made chart with 71.
-Diante Garrett scored 12 points and handed out eight assists in the win...Garrett, who ranks fifth in the Big 12 in assists (5.2 apg), has handed out five or more dimes in eight games this season.
-Lucca Staiger drilled 3-of-5 treys in the victory...Staiger is currently on pace to have one of the most accurate seasons in ISU history from long range...he leads the team with 34 treys at a 44.7 percent, which currently stands as the sixth-best single-season 3-point percentage clips in ISU history.
-Petersen's and Staiger's success from downtown helped ISU record 10 treys for the game, the sixth time this season where the Cyclones have connected on 10 or more treys in a game...ISU ranks third in the Big 12 in 3-pointers made per game (8.1).
-The Cyclones also tied a season high in assists with 22...ISU has had more assists than turnovers in 10 of 14 games this season to help the squad rank second in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.3).

Cyclone-Huskie Quick Facts
-Iowa State and Houston Baptist will meet for the first time on Tuesday.
-Houston Baptist is a member of the newly formed Great West Conference...UC Davis is also a member...the Cyclones defeated the Aggies, 61-58 in its season opener.
-Houston Baptist is one of four Division I basketball schools located in Houston...ISU has played three of the four schools in the last two seasons...ISU defeated Texas Southern (79-55) last year and won at Houston (71-67) on Dec. 28...Rice is the other D-I basketball school located in Houston.
-ISU is 8-3 all-time against schools in Houston; Houston (2-3), Texas Southern (4-0) and Rice (2-0).
-HBU senior Sean Morris is a transfer from Colorado State...Morris played against Iowa State in the championship game of the 2005 Rainbow Classic when he was a member of the Rams...Morris had two points and two assists in six minutes of action in ISU's 87-80 victory.
-HBU senior Gordon Watt is a transfer from Purdue...he competed against ISU senior Alex Thompson a number of times when Thompson played at Iowa.
-HBU assistant Keith Berard was a member of Texas Southern's staff last season when it played in Hilton Coliseum...ISU won the game, 79-55.
-E.C. Coleman, who played in the NBA for five years in the 1970s, is a Houston Baptist alum...Coleman was teammates with former Cyclone All-American Zaid Abdul-Aziz on the 1973-74 Houston Rockets.

A Closer Look At Houston Baptist (1-14)
-Houston Baptist (1-14) is in its second year of playing a Division I schedule after switching from NAIA...HBU is in the NCAA “provisional” period and will be a full Division I member in the 2014-15 season...the Huskies will be joining the newly formed Great West Conference.
-The Huskies recorded their first win of the season in their last game with a 69-59 victory over Howard in Logan, Utah...HBU was led by Gordon Watt, who tallied a double-double with 27 points and 12 boards.
-Watt, a senior forward who is in his second year with the squad after transferring from Purdue, is one of the best scorers in the nation, averaging 18.3 points and 8.5 rebounds...he ranks in the top-100 nationally in both categories.
-Watt has six 20-point games this season, including a career-high 31 points in a 107-70 loss to Illinois State.
-Point guard Baron Sauls is averaging 16.5 points and leads the team in 3-pointers made with 34...Sauls also has a team-high 56 assists.
-Andrew Puzyk is posting 9.7 points a game...Puzyk is averaging 2.8 3-pointers made per game this season, connecting on 40.0 percent of his shots from downtown.
-The Huskies like to shoot it from long range...HBU has three players with 26 or more 3-pointers made this season and are averaging 8.6 3-pointers made per game.
-The Huskies are shooting 40.5 percent from the field as a team.

Players Mentioned

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Justin Hamilton

Justin Hamilton

Bryan Petersen

Bryan Petersen

Lucca Staiger

Lucca Staiger

Lucca Staiger

Alex Thompson

Alex Thompson

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