No. 13 Iowa State Hosts Texas Tech Wednesday

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AMES, Iowa - No. 13 Iowa State (11-2, 0-1 Big 12) hosts Texas Tech (11-1, 1-0) Wednesday night it its Big 12 home opener.

Where: Ames, Iowa - Hilton Coliseum (14,384)
When: Wednesday, Jan. 6, 8 p.m. (CST)
Radio: Cyclone Radio Network/Learfield
Talent: John Walters (PxP), Eric Heft (Color)
TV: ESPNU
Talent: Clay Matvick (PxP), Tim Welsh (Color)
Webcast: WatchESPN
Sirius/XM: 84/84
Live Stats: Available at cyclonestats.com.

@CycloneMBB Notebook
- No. 13 Iowa State plays its Big 12 home opener Wednesday when it hosts Texas Tech at Hilton Coliseum...the Cyclones have won four of their last five Big 12 home openers.
- ISU has won 19 games against ranked opponents in the last three seasons, the most in the nation...ISU has 18 total losses in that span...ISU has defeated four ranked opponents in a row, dating back to last season.
- The Cyclones are ranked No. 13 in this week's Associated Press poll...the Cyclones have been ranked in a school-record 45 consecutive polls...ISU is No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
- There might not be anyone playing better than Georges Niang in recent weeks...Niang is leading the Cyclones in scoring with 19.6 points per game, which is second among Big 12 players....in the last four games, the senior is averaging 24.5 points and shooting 61.9 percent from the field...Niang is the leading active scorer in the Big 12 (1,765)... he has scored in double figures in 22 consecutive games.
- Niang is one of just seven players nationally (10 games minimum) that are shooting 55 percent on FGA, 40 percent on 3FGA and 86 percent on FTA...he is the only player among those seven averaging more than 11.3 ppg...he is among the nation's top-50 players in free-throw percentage (43rd), points per game (38th) and field goals made (28th).
- Iowa State has had five different players score 20 or more points in a game this season...a sixth, Matt Thomas, scored 19 points against Iowa...Hallice Cooke has been in double figures three times this season and Deonte Burton three times in four games...in the last four games, ISU has six players averaging 9.3 points or better.
- Burton, who has captured back-to-back Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors, has fit in well for ISU since becoming eligible...he has increased his scoring every game he's played, tallying 19 points Saturday at Oklahoma...the most impressive thing has been his efficiency...Burton is shooting 67.7 percent from the field and 70 percent from behind the arc...he's hit six of his last seven 3-point attempts.
- Monté Morris continues to be a rock for the Cyclones, leading the Big 12 in assists (7.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (5.2), which both rank fourth nationally. ...he's averaging just one turnover every 24.2 minutes this season and one every 30.9 minutes in his career...he has been in double figures in 12 of 13 games this season.
- Jameel McKay has been a dominant force inside for the Cyclones...McKay is averaging just under a double-double with 14.1 points and 9.5 rebounds...he is fourth in the Big 12 in rebounding and has 17 and 19-rebound performances this season...McKay has four double-doubles this season.
- Abdel Nader was the hero against Cincinnati, drilling the game-winning three with 11 seconds left...after matching his Cyclone-high against Coppin State with 21 points, Nader has been in double figures in nine of 13 games this season and is posting 13.1 points and 5.3 rebounds.
- Thomas has been equally important, stepping into the starting lineup after it was announced Naz Mitrou-Long would miss the remainder of the season...in the last six games, Thomas is shooting 46.5 percent (20-43) on threes and averaging 12.2 points...Thomas has more assists (24/22) and more rebounds (66/63) in 13 games than he did all last season.
- As a team, ISU is seventh nationally and second in the Big 12 shooting 50.9 percent from the field.
- The Cyclones are the nation's best team at limiting fouls, averaging just 14.1 per game.

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 29 of their last 30 games at home, including 15 of 16 league games.
- Morris (35.5) and Niang (32.1) are the top two players in the Big 12 in minutes played...in the five games without Naz Mitrou-Long, Thomas has seen the biggest increase in minutes played going from 24.6 minutes to 32.8 minutes...he's increased his scoring by 3.7 points with the increased role.
- 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 11 of 13 games...after being outshot against UNI and Cincinnati, ISU has been better than both Coppin State and Oklahoma from the field...ISU has been at or above 50 percent in eight games.
- Iowa State's 50.9 field goal percentage is the second-best in school history, trailing only the 1984-85 squad (51.2 percent)...the Big 12 record is 51.3 percent by Oklahoma State in 2003-04.
- ISU has had less turnovers than its opponent in every game but one (Oklahoma)...the Cyclones have a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.
- The Cyclones have outrebounded their opponents by an average of 3.3 boards per game.
- ISU is shooting 59.2 percent on 2-point field goals, which is third-best nationally.
- ISU is first nationally averaging just 14.1 personal fouls per game...ISU has made 13.4 free throws in the last five games, compared to just 7.4 for its opponents.
- Morris has 354 assists and 69 turnovers in 64 career starts... ISU is 39-6 when Morris has at least five assists...Morris broke into the starting lineup early in the Big 12 season of his freshman year.
- ISU is 21-3 in the last three seasons when Morris and Niang combine for 10 or more assists.
- Niang leads the Cyclones with 93 career double-figure scoring games...Niang has career-best 22 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 40-of-46 free throws this season...since the start of his junior season, Niang has been an 82.4 percent free-throw shooter...he's a career 76.3 percent shooter.
- Niang has hit a three in 12 games in a row after not attempting one in the season opener.
- In seven games against Power-5 schools, UNI and Cincinnati, Niang is averaging 21.9 points and shooting 56.6 percent from the field.
- Burton has hit more threes this season (7) than he hit as a freshman (4) and sophomore (4) at Marquette.
- Morris has at least one steal in 40 of the last 42 games, including 12 of 13 this season...he is averaging 2.8 steals in the last five games...he is second in the league this season with 2.3 steals per game.
- Morris has scored in double figures in 18 of the last 19 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 77 blocks in 38 career games, which includes 23 games with at least two blocks.
- McKay has grabbed double-digit rebounds in seven games this season, but not in the last five games.
- McKay has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 30 of 38 career games...he is a 59.5 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 9.8 FGA per game.
- In the last seven games, McKay is shooting 61.9 percent from the field.
- McKay has hit 20-of-30 free throws (66.7 percent) in the last five 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 nine games, ISU has shot 72.7 percent as a team.
- Thomas has six or more rebounds in four games this season after having six or more boards just three times in his first two seasons.

Last Time Out - Cyclones Can't Hold Off Sooners
- Iowa State led for nearly 30 minutes but Oklahoma led at the end, taking an 87-83 win in the battle of top-15 teams, which was the Big 12 opener for both schools.
- Iowa State out shot Oklahoma from the field (51.5-42.7) and Niang led all scorers with 29 points. Niang was one of four Cyclones in double figures...he was joined by Burton (19), Morris (12) and McKay (10) with double digits...OU's field-goal percentage was its third-lowest of the season.
- Burton's 19 points were a career-high...he hit 8-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc...the Cyclones were 7-for-16 from long distance as a team, with Matt Thomas also connecting on three 3-pointers...Niang hit a three for the 12th consecutive game.
- ISU had its fewest assists of the season (9) and had more turnovers (10) than assists for the second time this season (UNI).

Series Notes vs. Texas Tech...
- Iowa State and Texas Tech will meet for the 28th time in series history...Iowa State has won six of the last eight meetings and owns a 15-12 edge in the all-time series...the teams split last season with both teams winning at home.
- The Cyclones hold a 10-3 edge in games played in Ames, including wins in the last four meetings...the last loss at home to Tech came in 2011...last season, ISU beat the Red Raiders 75-38 at home as McKay made his first start for the Cyclones and went 7-for-7 from the field and scored 17 points in 25 minutes...Nazareth Mitrou-Long was the only other Cyclone in double figures with 15 points.
- This is Steve Prohm's first game against Texas Tech and first time coaching against Tubby Smith...in his first two Big 12 games, Prohm will have faced Smith and Lon Kruger, who entered the games with a combined 1,121 wins.
- In two meetings against TTU, McKay has averaged 13 points and 9.0 rebounds.
- Texas Tech is one of four Big 12 schools that Iowa State has a series edge with: Baylor (17-12), TCU (7-5) and West Virginia (5-1).
- This is the first time ISU has opened home Big 12 play against Texas Tech.
- ISU is 344-539 all-time against current Big 12 teams.

Players Mentioned

Deonte Burton

Hallice Cooke

Nazareth Mitrou-Long

Georges Niang

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