AMES – Iowa State faces Boise State Wednesday in the championship game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. (CT) with ESPN2 broadcasting the game.
Iowa State is 10-0 and ranked #14 in the nation and faces a 10-2 Boise State squad Wednesday in the championship game. The Cyclones are looking to record the best start in school history after matching it with the win vs. Akron. ISU is one of just nine unbeaten teams remaining nationally.
ISU is 1-0 all-time playing on Christmas Day. The Cyclones beat Saint Louis, 62-57, in 1997 in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.
Iowa State ranks among the NCAA’s top-10 in five statistical categories: Fifth in scoring (88.9), first in assists (19.6), first in assist/turnover ratio (1.8), fifth in scoring margin (20.7) and ninth in 3-point field goals per game (9.3).
Iowa State has four players averaging double figures. The Cyclones have had five players tally 20+ points in a game this season, the latest being sophomore Georges Niang. Niang has scored 20+ in four games in a row, the first Cyclone to do so since Craig Brackins in the final four games of the 2008-09 season. Niang is averaging 22.5 points and shooting 55.4 percent during the last four games.
Since 1998, only seven Division I players have averaged 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Senior guard DeAndre Kane is currently averaging 14.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists.
Melvin Ejim is leading the Cyclones averaging 18.4 points per game to go along with 8.6 boards. Ejim, who is shooting 52.5 percent from the field, has been in double figures in all eight games since his return, including five games with 20+ points. The senior has posted double-doubles in back-to-back games.
The Cyclones are first nationally in assists per game (19.6) and assist/turnover ratio (1.8).
