NorthIowaToday.com

Founded in 2010

News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region

Cyclones Men Garner Plenty of Big 12 Awards

logo_iowa_state_cyclonesIRVING, Texas – Iowa State men’s basketball players were well-represented on the 2012-13 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Men’s Basketball Awards, announced today by the Big 12 Conference.

Three Cyclones won individual awards, the most by any team in the league this season. Senior Will Clyburn was named Newcomer of the Year, senior Tyrus McGee won the Sixth Man Award and junior Melvin Ejim was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Four Cyclones were named all-conference. Clyburn was All-Big 12 Second Team and Ejim made the All-Big 12 Third Team. McGee and Korie Lucious were All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selections.

A trio of Cyclones made Big 12 specialty teams, as Clyburn and freshman Georges Niang were honored as Big 12 All-Rookie Team members. Senior Chris Babb made the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.

Clyburn is the second consecutive Cyclone to win the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Award. All-American Royce White picked up the honor last year.

A native of Detroit, Mich., Clyburn is averaging 15.2 points and 7.1 rebounds in his first and only season at Iowa State after transferring from Utah.

Clyburn is the only player in the Big 12 to rank in the top-five in the Big 12 in scoring (5th) and rebounding (5th). The senior leads the team in 20-point scoring games with seven and his seven double-doubles ranks second on the team.

McGee is arguably the nation’s best bench player, averaging 13.5 points while recording double figures from off the bench 23 times this season. Only Syracuse’s James Southerland (13.6 ppg) has a better scoring average among players from a “power-six” conference who have started less than 25 percent of their team’s games.

McGee leads the Big 12 in both 3-pointers per game (2.8) and 3-point percentage (40.7), ranking second nationally in shooting percentage from beyond the arc.

A native of Stringtown, Okla., McGee has 87 3-pointers on the season, the fifth-best total in school history. His career 43.9 percent clip from 3-point range is the second-best percentage in the Iowa State record book.

McGee is the first Cyclone to earn Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year honors from the Big 12.
A native of Toronto, Ontario, Ejim is the Big 12’s leader in both rebounding (9.3) and double-doubles (13).

Ejim, who is averaging 10.6 ppg, has excelled off the court at the highest level. He was recently inducted into the prestigious Phi Kappa Phi Academic Honor Society and was named to the Capital One Academic All-District VI squad.

Babb, who hails from Arlington, Texas, has taken on the role as the Cyclones’ lock-down defender for the last two seasons, guarding the opposing team’s top offensive scoring threat. Babb is second on the team in steals (34) and has held the Big 12’s top scorers in check on a daily basis.

Babb has 59 3-pointers on the season to tie for 20th on ISU’s single-season list.
Niang is one of the Big 12’s top freshmen, averaging 11.8 points and shooting 50.6 percent from the field to rank fifth in the league.

Niang, who has scored in double figures in 20 games, is trying to become just the 13th rookie in Iowa State history to end his freshman year averaging double figures in scoring.

Lucious currently ranks second in the Big 12 in assists at 5.5 apg, handing out five or more dimes 21 times this season. A native of Milwaukee, Wis., Lucious has connected on 60 3-pointers this year, tying for 17th on ISU’s single-season list.
His 172 assists this year ranks 10th in school history.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Even more news:

Watercooler
Copyright 2024 – Internet Marketing Pros. of Iowa, Inc.
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x