ISU Looks To Get Back To Winning Ways At K-State

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AMES, Iowa - No. 17 Iowa State (12-4, 1-3 Big 12) goes back on the road to face Kansas State (11-5, 1-3) in a Saturday afternoon Big 12 tilt at Bramlage Coliseum.

Where: Manhattan, Kan. - Bramlage Coliseum (12,528)
When: Saturday, Jan. 16, 3 p.m. (CST)
Radio: Cyclone Radio Network/Learfield
Talent: John Walters (PxP), Eric Heft (Color)
TV: ESPNU
Talent: Jason Benetti (PxP), Reid Gettys (Color)
Webcast: WatchESPN
Sirius/XM: 136/199 (KSU Broadcast)
Live Stats: Available at cyclonestats.com.

@CycloneMBB Notebook
- Iowa State faces another difficult road test with hopes of preventing a three-game skid and its first 1-4 league start since the 2010-11 season...the last three-game losing streak for ISU came in 2013-14 when the Cyclones started league play 3-4 and finished league play 11-7 and tied for third...ISU's future opponents have a .757 win percentage, the best in the nation.
- Iowa State's four losses have been by a combined 14 points, with three of the losses being away from Hilton Coliseum...in two of those games, ISU led for more than 29 minutes (Oklahoma-29:47; Baylor- 32:41).
- ISU has won 19 games against ranked opponents in the last three seasons, tied for the most in the nation...ISU has 21 total losses in that span...seven of ISU's final 15 games are against currently ranked teams.
- The Cyclones are ranked No. 17 in this week's Associated Press poll...the Cyclones have been ranked in a school-record 46 consecutive polls...ISU is No. 18 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
- Georges Niang, who is on the Wooden Award Midseason Top-25 list, is leading the Cyclones in scoring with 19.9 points per game, which is second among Big 12 players....he's been even better in Big 12 play, averaging 23 points and shooting 59.7 percent from the field...Niang is the leading active scorer in the Big 12 (1,828), which also ranks sixth in ISU history and 16th in Big 12 history...he needs three points to pass former Cyclone star Marcus Fizer on both lists... he has scored in double figures in 25 consecutive games, including 20 or more points in five of the last seven games....Niang will match Melvin Ejim's record for career wins by a Cyclone player with ISU's next victory (88 wins).
- Iowa State has had six different players score 20 or more points in a game this season after Matt Thomas poured in a career-high 22 points against TTU...Niang, Morris and McKay rank among the Big 12's top-10 in scoring...the Cyclones are sixth nationally and lead the Big 12 shooting 50.2 percent from the field...three players (McKay, Morris, Niang) rank among the top-90 players nationally in field-goal percentage.
- Monté Morris had his best scoring game of the season with 21 points against Baylor and followed with 17 against Texas...he continues to be a rock for the Cyclones, leading the Big 12 in assists (7.3), assist-to-turnover ratio (4.9) and steals (2.3)...he's averaging just one turnover every 24.3 minutes this season and one every 30.6 minutes in his career.
- Jameel McKay is averaging just under a double-double with 14.2 points and 9.2 rebounds...he had 19 points and 14 rebound performance against Texas Tech...he is third in the Big 12 in rebounding and has 17 and 19-rebound performances this season...McKay has five double-doubles this season.
- Thomas has been terrific since Naz Mitrou-Long was shut down for the season...he is averaging 12.7 points and has hit at least three 3-pointers in six of the last nine games...Thomas has more 3-pointers (38/32), assists (28/22) and rebounds (76/63) in 16 games than he did all last season...he's shooting 41.3 percent from long distance this season after shooting 33.0 percent last season...in the last five games, Thomas has hit 39.4 percent of ISU's made 3-pointers (15 of 38).
- Deonte Burton, who captured back-to-back Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors, has fit in well for ISU since becoming eligible...he got back on track after struggling for a couple games, scoring 14 points in 16 minutes at Texas...Burton is averaging 10.1 points and shooting 57.1 percent (8-14) from behind the arc...he has scored in double figures in four of seven games.
- Abdel Nader was the hero against Cincinnati, drilling the game-winning three with 11 seconds left...Nader posted his second double-double of the season with 10 poins and a career-high 16 rebounds at Texas...he has been in double figures in 11 of 16 games this season and is posting 12.4 points and 6.0 rebounds.

Iowa State Trends
- ISU has been to a school-record four consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
- The Cyclones have won back-to-back Big 12 Tournament titles, just the fourth school to win consecutive titles.
- ISU has bettered its preseason Big 12 prediction four consecutive seasons...ISU was picked third in this season's preseason poll.
- The Cyclones have won at least 11 league games in each of the last four seasons, which is a school record.
- ISU has won 34 regular season home games in a row against nonconference opponents...the Cyclones have won 30 of their last 32 games at home, including 16 of 18 league games...only Baylor has beat the Cyclones at home during this stretch.
- Morris (36.5) leads the Big 12 in minutes played and is among the nation's top-25...in the eight games without Naz Mitrou-Long, Thomas has seen the biggest increase in minutes played going from 24.6 minutes to 34.2 minutes...Mitrou-Long's minutes have laregely been picked up by Thomas, Nader and Burton.
- ISU has topped the 100-point plateau twice this season...it is the first time the Cyclones have done it twice in a season since the 2000-01 season...ISU had a streak earlier this season of seven games in a row with 83 or more points, the second-longest run in school history.
- The Cyclones have shot better than their opponent in 12 of 16 games...ISU has been at or above 50 percent in nine games.
- ISU has done a great job in the first half of league games, allowing opponents to shoot just 42.6 percent from the field, 25.5 percent on threes and averaging just 37.5 points...but the second half has been the opposite: 50.7 percent from field, 50 percent on threes and 46.8 points.
- Iowa State's 50.2 field goal percentage is the third-best in school history.
- ISU has had less turnovers than its opponent in every game but two (Oklahoma, Texas)...the Cyclones have a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio...the Cyclones are averaging just 9.3 turnovers per game in conference play.
- The Cyclones have outrebounded their opponents by an average of 2.8 boards per game...Niang ranks ninth in the Big 12 in rebounding this season (6.7 rpg)...he had only ranked among the Big 12's top-20 rebounders his junior season (17th).
- ISU is shooting 58.0 percent on 2-point field goals, which is sixth nationally.
- ISU is second nationally averaging just 14.6 personal fouls per game (SMU)...the Cyclones had a season-high 23 fouls against Baylor last Saturday.
Morris has 373 assists and 74 turnovers in 67 career starts... ISU is 40-8 when Morris has at least five assists...Baylor has been four of those eight losses.
- ISU is 21-4 in the last three seasons when Morris and Niang combine for 10 or more assists.
- Niang leads the Cyclones with 96 career double-figure scoring games...Niang has career-best 25 consecutive games with 10 or more points...his last game with fewer than 10 points was Feb. 18, 2015 against Oklahoma State (9 points).
- Niang has made 46-of-55 free throws this season...since the start of his junior season, Niang has been an 81.5 percent free-throw shooter...he's a career 76.0 percent shooter.
- Niang has hit a three in 15 games in a row after not attempting one in the season opener.
- In 10 games against Power-5 schools, UNI and Cincinnati, Niang is averaging 21.6 points and shooting 56 percent from the field.
- Burton has hit as many threes this season (8) than he hit his freshman (4) and sophomore (4) seasons combined at Marquette.
- Morris has at least one steal in 43 of the last 45 games, including 15 of 16 this season...he is averaging 2.6 steals in the last nine games...he's leading the Big 12 this season with 2.3 steals per game.
- Morris has scored in double figures in 21 of the last 22 games dating back to last season.
- Morris has eight career games with 10 or more assists...his assist-to-turnover ratio in those games is 9.5 (86 assists/nine turnovers).
- McKay has 82 blocks in 41 career games, which includes 24 games with at least two blocks.
- McKay has grabbed double-digit rebounds in eight games this season.
- McKay has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 31 of 41 career games...he is a 58.2 percent field goal shooter in his career, which would rank second in ISU history if he meets the minimum attempts mark (400 FGA)...last season McKay averaged 6.7 field goal attempts per game...this season he is averaging 10 FGA per game.
- McKay has hit 34-of-49 free throws (69.4 percent) in the last eight games after starting the season 7-of-22 (31.8 percent).
- ISU shot just 58.2 percent from the line in the first four games this season...in the last 12 games, ISU has shot 72.8 percent as a team.
- Thomas has six or more rebounds in five games this season after having six or more boards just three times in his first two seasons.
- Thomas has hit 29-of-66 3-pointers in the last nine games, a 43.9 percent clip...he's got three or more 3-pointers in six of those nine games...he's fourth on the team in scoring since the Iowa game with 12.7 points.
- Nader is averaging 8.3 rebounds in conference play, which is tied with McKay for the team lead.
- In the last two games, Niang is averaging 24.5 points and shooting 59.4 percent from the field...Morris is averaging 19 points during that stretch...those two players are shooting a combined 59.3 percent from the field in those games, while the rest of the team is shooting 44.9 percent.

Last Time Out - Cyclones Drop Road Contest To Texas
- Iowa State battled back, erasing a 13-point second-half deficit, to force overtime in Austin before eventually falling 94-91 to the Longhorns....the Cyclones shot 67.7 percent from the field in the second half.
- Georges Niang led the Cyclones with 27 points, including 19 in the second half...Niang was one of six Cyclones in double figures...Morris was second on the team with 17 points.
- Nader finished with a career-high 16 rebounds as ISU held a 39-33 edge on the glass.

Series Notes vs. Kansas State...
- Kansas State leads the all-time series at 137-83 with the teams meeting for the 221st time...the Wildcats lead the series 80-22 in games played in Manhattan.
- ISU has won six of the last nine meetings in the series, but has lost the last three meetings in Manhattan...those meetings have been decided by a total of 17 points.
- Last season in Manhattan, K-State edged the Cyclones 70-69 despite 21 points from Niang.
- Niang is averaging 14.7 points in seven career games against the Wildcats...he's hit 17-of-27 threes against KSU.
- This is Steve Prohm's first game against K-State and his first game coaching against Bruce Weber.
- Weber is 4-4 vs. ISU as a head coach.
- ISU is 345-541 all-time against current Big 12 teams.

ISU Looks To Get Back To Winning Ways At K-State

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Deonte Burton

Georges Niang

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ISU Looks To Get Back To Winning Ways At K-State

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