ISU Travels To No. 7 Texas In Big 12 Opener

AMES, Iowa--Iowa State (11-4, 0-0), winners of its last four games, will have a tough task in its Big 12 opener, traveling to No. 7 Texas (11-3, 0-0) on Saturday. ISU is 38-62 all-time in conference openers, 9-32 in road league openers and 6-6 in Big 12 openers. ISU is 2-4 in Big 12 road openers, winning both at Missouri.

Iowa State (11-4) at No. 7 Texas (11-3)
When: Sat., Jan. 10, 2009 - 3:00 p.m.
Where: Austin, Texas; Frank C. Erwin Center (16,755)
Live Stats: texassports.com
Radio: Cyclone Radio Network: John Walters (pxp) and Eric Heft (color)
Television: Big 12 Network/ESPN Full Court: Mitch Holthus (pxp) and Dan Hughes (color)
Local Affiliates: Ames/Des Moines (WOI), Cedar Rapids/Waterloo (KFXA-DT), Davenport (WBQD), Sioux City (KPTH-DT2)
Webcast: ESPN360

Complete Pre-Event Coverage
Notes Webcast	_	Live Stats

Cyclone Notebook
-Iowa State (11-4, 0-0), winners of its last four games, will have a tough task in its Big 12 opener, traveling to No. 7 Texas (11-3, 0-0) on Saturday.
-ISU is 38-62 all-time in conference openers, 9-32 in road league openers and 6-6 in Big 12 openers...ISU is 2-4 in Big 12 road openers, winning both at Missouri.
-ISU recorded its 11th win on Tuesday with a 64-56 victory over Houston Baptist...it marks the first time since the 2000-01 season where the Cyclones have tallied 11 or more wins before beginning conference play.
-UT is the first ranked team the Cyclones have faced this season...ISU has lost 10 consecutive games to ranked teams...the last Cyclone victory over a ranked team was on Feb. 5, 2006, defeating Colorado, 96-79.
-ISU has lost its last six games to conference opponents and has lost eight-straight games to league foes on the road...ISU's last win vs. a league opponent on the road was a 69-63 win at Nebraska on Feb. 28, 2007.
-ISU leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense (37.5 percent).

Last Time Out
-Iowa State was lethargic in its last game, but came away with a 64-56 victory over Houston Baptist to end its non-conference season at 11-4.
-ISU was only up two points at the half, but built a 16-point lead with less than seven minutes remaining.
-There were some bright spots for the Cyclones...ISU recorded a season-high 11 blocks and made a season-high 94.7 percent from the free-throw line (18-19 FT) in the win.
-In its last three games, ISU has made 46-of-56 shots from the charity stripe (82.1 pct.).
-The Cyclones also held HBU to just 32.9 percent shooting, the second lowest opponent total of the season...ISU is now 11-0 this year when shooting better than its opponent and 0-4 when getting outshot by its opponent...only three opponents have shot above 40 percent vs. ISU this season.
-Craig Brackins registered his fifth double-double in his last 10 games with 22 points and 16 boards...Brackins posted a double-double at the half for the second time this season (Houston) with 12 points and 11 caroms at the break.
-Brackins, who ranks third in the Big 12 in scoring (18.3 ppg), now has seven 20-point games on the season...he also swatted a career-high five shots vs. the Huskies, tying him for 20th all-time on ISU's career blocked shots chart with 47...Brackins' five blocks was the most by a Cyclone since Jared Homan swatted seven shots vs. Minnesota on March 18, 2005.
-Diante Garrett chipped in with 12 points and four assists in the win...Garrett, who ranks fifth in the Big 12 in assists (5.1), has scored in double figures in three of the last four games...Garrett, who was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line, has a streak of 10 consecutive free-throws made.
-Lucca Staiger and Bryan Petersen both made a 3-pointer in the game, keeping their individual streaks of consecutive games with a 3-pointer alive at nine games...Staiger has made two or more treys in his last five games...Petersen ranks 17th on ISU's career 3-pointers made list with 72.
-ISU has held three-straight opponents to under 60 points...ISU is 7-0 this season and 24-0 in the Greg McDermott era when holding an opponent to 60 points or less.
-ISU ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring defense (60.0 ppg).

Cyclone-Longhorn Quick Facts
-Texas leads the all-time series vs. Iowa State at 9-8 and has won the last three games in the series...UT defeated ISU, 71-65 in overtime in Hilton Coliseum last year.
-UT holds the series lead in games played in Austin at 6-1...ISU's lone victory in Austin was a 92-80 overtime win in 2005.
-UT is currently ranked No. 7 nationally...including Saturday's game, the Longhorns have been ranked six of the last seven years ISU has played them.
-UT has an 8-4 record against ISU since the Big 12 was formed in 1996-97.
-UT head coach Rick Barnes is 7-3 all-time against ISU.
-ISU head coach Greg McDermott is 0-2 against Rick Barnes-coached teams.
-UT senior A.J. Abrams poured in 25 points behind a 7-of-10 effort from 3-point range in the Longhorns' overtime win in Ames last season.
-ISU sophomore Diante Garrett tallied 10 points and dished out seven assists in the game last season...Sean Haluska had nine points.
-UT sophomore Dogus Balbay and ISU sophomore Craig Brackins were teammates together at Brewster Academy Prep School in New Hampshire during the 2006-07 season...Brewster Academy went 29-6 and was ranked as the fifth-best high school in the nation in 2006-07.
-UT has beaten ISU twice when it was ranked (1997, 2001) and the Cyclones have downed two ranked-Longhorn teams (2000, 2005).

A Closer Look At Texas (11-3, 0-0)
-Texas has an 11-3 record after a 67-61 loss at Arkansas on Tuesday...the Longhorns were led by Gary Johnson, who had 15 points and 12 boards in the loss.
-The Longhorns are led by senior A.J. Abrams, who is one of the best shooters in the country...Abrams is already UT's all-time leader in 3-point field goals made with 328...he needs nine treys to become the Big 12's all-time leader in 3-pointers made.
-Abrams currently ranks fourth in the Big 12 in scoring (18.1) and is second in the league in 3-pointers made per game (3.1)...Abrams has connected on 44-of-104 of his shots from downtown (42.3 percent) this year.
-Junior forward Damion James is averaging 14.6 points and leads the team on the boards at 8.9...he currently ranks fourth in the league in rebounding.
-Junior Justin Mason, who averages 7.1 ppg, leads the team and ranks fourth in the Big 12 in assists at 5.6...Mason has the 18th-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the nation at 2.8 a/t.
-UT ranks in the top-50 nationally and third in the Big 12 in scoring defense (60.4)...only three teams have scored over 70 points vs. UT this season.
-The Longhorns rank first in the Big 12 and 13th nationally in blocked shots (6.1)...senior Connor Atchley is second in the Big 12 in blocks per game (1.6).
-UT's opponents are shooting 38.6 percent from the field.

ISU Travels To No. 7 Texas In Big 12 Opener

Players Mentioned

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Sean Haluska

Sean Haluska

Bryan Petersen

Bryan Petersen

Lucca Staiger

Lucca Staiger

Lucca Staiger

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ISU Travels To No. 7 Texas In Big 12 Opener

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Players Mentioned

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Sean Haluska

Sean Haluska

Bryan Petersen

Bryan Petersen

Lucca Staiger

Lucca Staiger

Lucca Staiger

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