Cyclones Prepare For Big 12 Championship

AMES, Iowa - No. 10 seed Iowa State (15-16, 4-12) will battle No. 7 seed Oklahoma State (20-10, 9-7) in the first round of the Big 12 Championship, March 11 in Oklahoma City, Okla., at 6 p.m. The winner of the game will face No. 2 seed Oklahoma on Thursday (March 12) at 6 p.m. All games will be played at the Ford Center.

When: Wed., March 11, 2009 - 6 p.m.
Where: Oklahoma City, Okla.; Ford Center (18,878)
Live Stats: big12sports.com
Radio: Cyclone Radio Network: John Walters (pxp) and Eric Heft (color)
Television: Big 12 Network: Dave Armstrong (pxp) and Reid Gettys (color)
Affiliates: Ames/Des Moines (WOI); Sioux City (KPTH-DT2); Ottumwa (KYOU-DT1)
Webcast: ESPN360

Complete Pre-Event Coverage
Notes Championship Bracket cyclones.com Tournament Central	_	Live Stats Webcast Newsconference

Cyclone Notebook
- No. 10 seed Iowa State (15-16, 4-12) will battle No. 7 seed Oklahoma State (20-10, 9-7) in the first round of the Big 12 Championship, March 11 in Oklahoma City, Okla., at 6 p.m.
- The winner of the game will face No. 2 seed Oklahoma on Thursday (March 12) at 6 p.m...all games will be played at the Ford Center.
- The Cyclones have not won a Big 12 Championship game since a 77-57 win over Baylor in the 2005 Big 12 Championship in Kansas City.
- The Cyclones ended the regular season with a 78-76 victory over Texas Tech in Hilton Coliseum on Saturday...senior Bryan Petersen scored a career-high 20 points in the win.
- ISU has not played a neutral game this season...this is the second time the Big 12 Championship has been held in Oklahoma City...ISU has played an Oklahoma school in the first round both times (Oklahoma- 2007; Oklahoma State- 2009).

Last Time Out
- ISU held off a late Texas Tech rally to win its final regular season game, 78-76 in Hilton Coliseum on Saturday.
- Tech had two chances to win in the closing seconds, but both 3-point attempts misfired.
- ISU committed a season-low five turnovers in the game...ISU is second in the Big 12 and 39th nationally in fewest turnovers (12.1).
- ISU won its first game of the season when shooting worse than its opponent (1-15).
- Senior Bryan Petersen, who was playing in his final home game, recorded career highs in points (20) and 3-pointers (6) to aid the Cyclones to victory.
- Craig Brackins added 21 points and 14 boards, recording his 14th double-double and 11th 20-point/10-rebound game of the season.
- Brackins finished the conference season averaging a double-double at 21.8 ppg and 10.3 rpg...he scored 20 points or more in 11 of 16 Big 12 games this season.
- Brackins ended the conference season with a Big 12-high 348 points...that total ranks 10th all-time in Big 12 history (league games only).

Gameday Storylines
- Craig Brackins needs 12 points to join ISU's 1,000-point club...Brackins is trying to become just the fifth Cyclone in school history to reach 1,000 points in their first two seasons...he would be just the third sophomore to achieve the feat...he would be the 27th Cyclone to reach 1,000 points in a career.
- Brackins needs nine rebounds to become just the third player in school history to record 600 points and 300 rebounds in a season...Brackins has 622 points and 291 rebounds this year...Jeff Grayer (811 pts./300 reb.- 1988) and Zaid Abdul-Aziz (619 pts./334 reb.- 1967; 604 pts./365 reb.- 1968) are the only two Cyclones currently in the 600-point/300-rebound club.
- Brackins was named first-team All-Big 12, the first Cyclone to be named first-team all-conference by the Big 12 since Jamaal Tinsley in 2001.
- ISU will likely break its season record for fewest turnovers...ISU is averaging 12.1 tpg...the current record is 12.9 tpg held by the 1998-99 squad.
- ISU has already established its school record for 3-pointers made in a season with 228...the Cyclones rank third in the Big 12 in 3-pointers made per game (7.4).
- Bryan Petersen has started every game in his two-year Cyclone career (63 consecutive starts)...Petersen need three treys to become just the 10th Cyclone in school history to record 100 3-pointers in a career...he currently has 97.

Iowa State Conference Championship History
- The Cyclones earned the 10th seed in the Big 12 Championship for the second time in school history...ISU was the 10th seed in 2006, falling to Oklahoma State, 79-70.
- ISU is 7-11 in Big 12 Championship history with one Big 12 title (2000).
- ISU is 65-83 all-time in conference tournaments with four league tournament championships to its credit.
- The Cyclones face No. 7 seed Oklahoma State in the first round...ISU is 1-2 against the Cowboys in Big 12 Championship history...ISU's lone win vs. OSU in the Big 12 Championship was a 68-64 win in the semifinals in 2000...ISU is 7-10 vs. OSU all-time in conference tournaments.
- If the Cyclones advance, they will face No. 2 seed Oklahoma.
- The Cyclones are 1-1 vs. Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship and 10-14 all-time against the Sooners in conference tournament history.
- This will be the second time the championship has been held in Oklahoma City...ISU lost to Oklahoma, 68-63 in 2007 the first time it was held at the Ford Center.
- ISU has lost Big 12 tournament first round games the last three seasons and has not won a league tournament game since defeating Baylor, 77-57 on March 10, 2005.

Cyclone-Cowboy Quick Facts
- Oklahoma State leads the all-time series vs. Iowa State at 58-52.
- OSU has won nine of the last 11 games in the series, including an 86-67 win in Stillwater in the only meeting of the season between the two teams...Craig Brackins had 27 points to pace the Cyclones, while James Anderson had 27 for the Cowboys...Brackins is averaging 21.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in his career vs. OSU.
- Lucca Staiger scored 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting from downtown in his only meeting vs. the Cowboys.
- ISU head coach Greg McDermott is 1-2 against Oklahoma State.
- OSU head coach Travis Ford is in his first year with the program...Ford played against ISU for two different teams in his collegiate career...as a freshman at Missouri in 1989-90, Ford scored 10 and nine points, respectively, in his two games vs. ISU...he later transferred to Kentucky, where he played against ISU in the 1992 NCAA Tournament...he played four minutes in the game, but did not score.
- OSU assistant coach Steve Middleton played collegiately at Southern Illinois from 1985-88...ISU director of basketball operations Ron Smith was an assistant coach for Middleton at SIU.

Streaks and Trends
- Bryan Petersen has started every game the last two seasons (63-straight games).
- Craig Brackins has led ISU in scoring in 20 of the last 22 games for ISU.
- Brackins has led ISU in rebounding in 17-straight games.
- Brackins is averaging 22.7 points in the last eight games, scoring 20 points or more in seven of the last eight games.
- Brackins scored 20 or more points in 11 of 16 league games this year.
- Brackins needs 12 points to become the 27th member of the 1,000-point club and just the fifth Cyclone to score 1,000 or more points in their first two seasons.
- Brackins needs nine rebounds to become just third player in ISU history to record 600 points and 300 rebounds in a season.
- Brackins scored 348 of ISU's 997 pts. in the Big 12, 34.9 pct of the scoring.
- Brackins ranks in ISU's single season top-20 in four different categories: field goals (T11th- 236), points (11th- 622), rebounds (T13th- 291), double-doubles (T11th-14).
- Brackins is one of 11 players in school history to score 600 points in a season.
- Lucca Staiger ranks 7th on ISU's single-season 3-pointers made chart with 71...he also ties for 18th all-time in school history with 71 career treys.
- Petersen ranks 10th all-time on ISU's career 3-pointers made list with 97 treys and his 49 treys on the season ranks 18th on ISU's single-season list.
- Petersen is 22-of-47 from 3-point range (46.8 pct.) in his last 12 games.
- Diante Garrett ranks 20th on ISU's career assist chart with 247 dimes.
- Garrett's 156 assists this season ranks 16th on ISU's single-season assist list.
- Jamie Vanderbeken has made 19 of his 31 season treys in the last 13 games.
- ISU is 36-of-86 from 3-point range (41.8 percent) in its four Big 12 wins...ISU is 74-of-250 from downtown (29.6 percent) in its 12 league losses.
- ISU is 92-of-121 (76.0 percent) from the free-throw line its last eight games.
- ISU has already set the school record for most 3-pointers made in a season (228).
- ISU has seven players on the team with 10 or more 3-pointers made this year.
- ISU is 14-1 this season when shooting better than its opponent and 1-15 when getting outshot by its opponent.
- ISU has outrebounded 10 opponents this season, going 9-2 in those games.
- ISU is 8-0 this year and 22-2 in the McDermott era when scoring 70 points.
- ISU is 9-2 this season and 26-2 in the McDermott era when holding its opponent to under 60 points.

Monday Media Conference

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Players Mentioned

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Craig Brackins

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Bryan Petersen

Bryan Petersen

Lucca Staiger

Lucca Staiger

Lucca Staiger

Jamie Vanderbeken

Jamie Vanderbeken

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