Regular Season Opens Friday Against Savannah State

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AMES, Iowa - No. 24 Iowa State (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) hosts Savannah State (0-0, 0-0 MEAC) in the season opener for both schools Friday night at Hilton Coliseum at 7 p.m.. The game is part of a day/night doubleheader with the Cyclone women's basketball team hosting UC-Santa Barbara at noon.

Where: Ames, Iowa - Hilton Coliseum (14,384)
When: Friday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m. (CST)
Radio: Cyclone Radio Network/TuneIn Radio App
Talent: John Walters (PxP), Eric Heft (Color)
TV: Cyclones.tv
Talent: John Walters (PxP), Eric Heft (Color)
Webcast: Cyclones.tv
Sirius/XM: 93/390/963 (internet)
Live Stats: Available at cyclonestats.com.

Tickets: A limited number of tickets are still available for sale at Cyclones.com. To purchase, click here.

Game #1-Savannah State
• Iowa State begins its 110th season of men's basketball and the second under head coach Steve Prohm Friday evening against Savannah State at Hilton Coliseum...it is one of nine games featuring a Big 12 team on the slate for Friday...only Oklahoma doesn't play.
• The Cyclones are 87-22 all-time in season openers, which includes 18 consecutive wins...ISU is playing its season opener at home for the 21st time in the last 22 seasons...last season, the Cyclones defeated Colorado, 68-62, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. in the first game of the Steve Prohm era...since 2000, ISU has won its home openers by an average of 18.5 points...the Cyclones haven't lost a home season opener since Nov. 23, 1997 (Northern Iowa, 54-48).
• With the game falling on Veterans' Day, ISU will do a number of unique things to honor our veterans...the Athletics Department hosted a ticket donation with more than 200 tickets being donated by season ticket holders, all of which went to veterans in our community...we'll also have four veterans helping the teams hold the flag during the national anthem as well as a special "card stunt" in which fans in each section will be given a red, white or blue card to proudly display before and after the anthem is performed.
#CycloneNotes
• ISU defeated Sioux Falls, 101-57, last Sunday in an exhibition game...it was the third consecutive exhibition game in which the Cyclones scored 100+ points.
• Iowa State is ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press preseason poll...the Cyclones have been ranked in a school-record 57 consecutive AP polls, the third-longest streak nationally (Kansas, Arizona)...ISU is receiving votes in the coaches poll.
• The Cyclones are looking to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth consecutive season...ISU is one of 10 schools nationally to make the NCAA Tournament the last five seasons...the Cyclones are trying to become the first Division I men's basketball program from the State of Iowa to make six consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
• Senior Monté Morris was voted the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year and Associated Press Preseason All-American...he was the only unanimous selection to the preseason team...he returns for his final season as the leading returning player in scoring, assists, assist-to-turnover margin and minutes played...he is second among returnees in field goal percentage and steals.
• Morris, who this week was named to the Lute Olson Award watch list, is also the active career leader in the Big 12 in assists (551) and steals (172)...nationally he is third among active players in assists and steals.
• In total, the Cyclones return just 42.9 percent of their scoring (35.1 ppg) from last season...ISU also returns last year's Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Deonte Burton...Burton averaged 9.7 points and 3.9 rebounds while coming off the bench primarily.
• Along with Morris, fellow seniors Nazareth Mitrou-Long and Matt Thomas give Iowa State one of the more experienced backcourts in the nation...the trio has combined to start 176 games and have made 425 three-pointers at a 39.7 percent clip...all three players have averaged double-figures at least one season in their careers.
• Iowa State returns just six players that logged minutes in 2015-16 and just four, including Mitrou-Long, that saw significant playing time...ISU added two grad transfers, Darrell Bowie (N. Illinois) and Merrill Holden (Louisiana Tech), and Nick Weiler-Babb joins the available players after sitting out last season.
• ISU has won 76 games the last three seasons...the school record for wins in a four-year period is 99 wins (2013-16)...Morris has played in all 76 wins, just 22 shy of Georges Niang's record of 98 wins played in.

Iowa State-Savannah State Series Notes
• Iowa State and Savannah State are meeting for the fourth time, but first since Dec. 13, 2006 (ISU won 70-59)...ISU owns a 3-0 edge in the all-time series, with all games being played at Hilton Coliseum...the Cyclones have won the three meetings by an average of 18.7 points.
• The Tigers play in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference...ISU is 19-1 all-time against teams from the MEAC...the lone loss came in the 2001 NCAA Tournament when the 2nd-seeded Cyclones lost to 15th-seeded Hampton, 58-57, in Boise Idaho...in their last meeting against the MEAC, the Cyclones defeated Coppin State, 104-84, in 2015-16.
• Steve Prohm is facing Savannah State for the first time in his coaching career...Savannah State head coach Horace Broadnax has faced the Cyclones once while coaching the Tigers (0-1).

Last Time Out - Sharp-Shooting Cyclones Roll In Exhibition Game
• Iowa State hit 15-of-26 3-pointers and held Sioux Falls to just 32.4 percent shooting as it rolled to a 101-57 win against Sioux Falls last Sunday.
• Four Cyclones scored in double figures, led by Nazareth Mitrou-Long's 24-point performance...Mitrou-Long drilled 6-of-10 threes and was 9-for-14 from the field overall...Deonte Burton had 16 points, Matt Thomas added 13 and in his first Hilton Coliseum performance freshman Solomon Young chipped in 12 points.
• Burton stuffed the stat sheet, finishing with nine rebounds, six steals and four assists in the well-rounded effort.
• No starter played more than 22 minutes (Morris)...every Cyclone played and 12 of 13 scored...the starting lineup played 11:58 together, the most of any fivesome, and led the team with a +16 in the plus/minus category.
• The Cyclones had 22 assists and 10 turnovers...ISU forced 20 turnovers.
• While the Cyclones were hot behind the arc, they were just 6-for-12 from the free-throw line...the starting five was 5-for-6, however.
• Iowa State scored 36 points in the paint and 45 behind the arc.

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Players Mentioned

Darrell Bowie

Deonte Burton

Merrill Holden

Nazareth Mitrou-Long

Georges Niang

Matt Thomas

Nick Weiler-Babb

Solomon Young

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