AMES, Iowa – No. 24 Iowa State (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) plays its lone exhibition game Sunday when it hosts Division II foe Sioux Falls (0-0, 0-0 NSIC) at Hilton Coliseum. The game is part of a doubleheader, with the Iowa State women’s basketball team playing Briar Cliff University at 1 p.m.
Exhibition Game
• Iowa State begins its 110th season of men’s basketball and the second under head coach Steve Prohm Sunday evening when it plays host to Sioux Falls in its lone exhibition game at Hilton Coliseum…the Cyclones hosted Nebraska in a closed scrimmage on Oct. 30…it was the eighth time ISU has played a scrimmage in place of one of its exhibition games.
• The Cyclones are 48-4 in exhibition games dating back to the 1983-84 season…ISU has won 14 consecutive exhibition games…the last Cyclone loss in an exhibition was in 2005-06 when they fell to EA Sports, 64-57…all-time exhibition results can be found on page 5 of this packet.
• Sioux Falls went 17-13 last season under head coach Chris Johnson, who is in his ninth year leading the program…this is the first meeting between the Cyclones and Cougars…USF returns its top three scorers from a season ago, led by senior Mack Johnson’s 17.5 points per game (10th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference).
#CycloneNotes
• Iowa State is ranked No. 24 in the Associate 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.
• ISU was picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 by the league’s coaches…other than Kansas, ISU was the only school to receive a first-place vote.
• 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 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.
• Mitrou-Long returns after having his original senior season cut short by injury (persistent hip discomfort following surgery)…he was averaging 12.0 points through eight games before his 2015-16 season was ended.
• 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 Quick Hitters
• ISU has been to a school-record five consecutive NCAA Tournaments…the Cyclones have made two Sweet 16 appearance in the last three seasons…ISU seeks to become the first school from the state of Iowa to reach six consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
• The Cyclones have won two of the last three Big 12 Tournament titles.
• ISU has won 20 games the last five seasons…Steve Prohm has won at least 20 games in each of his five seasons as a head coach…among current Big 12 coaches, only he, Texas coach Shaka Smart and TCU’s Jamie Dixon accomplished that in their first five years as a head coach.
• Iowa State is one of 29 schools to win 20+ games the last five seasons…only 13 teams in the nation’s top-six conferences (Big East, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC) have won 20+ games five consecutive seasons.
• The Cyclones have won at least 10 league games in each of the last five seasons, which is a school record.
• ISU has won 34 regular season home games in a row against nonconference opponents…the Cyclones have won 32 of their last 35 games at home, including 18 of 21 league games.
• ISU has led the Big 12 in scoring the last four seasons, joining Kansas (2000-03) as the only teams to lead the league four consecutive seasons.
• Morris has 551 assists and 123 turnovers in 105 career games…ISU is 47-13 when Morris has at least five assists.
• Morris has 11 career games with 10 or more assists…his assist-to-turnover ratio in those games is 7.4 (118 assists/16 turnovers).
• Thomas has hit a three in 25 consecutive games…Thomas has made 33 of his last 35 free-throw attempts.
Iowa State-Sioux Falls Series Notes
• Iowa State and Sioux Falls are meeting for the first time.
• The Cougars play in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference…the NSIC has been a frequent visitor to Hilton Coliseum during the exhibition season…ISU has played five games against NSIC opponents since 2004-05 (Augustana, Minnesota State, Wayne State, Bemidji State).
• ISU has won its last five exhibition games by an average of 36.6 points…the Cyclones beat the last two NSIC opponents by an average of 27.5 points.
Iowa State Team Quick Facts
• Iowa State is playing its 110th season of men’s basketball and the second under head coach Steve Prohm in 2016-17…the Cyclones have made the NCAA Tournament five seasons in a row.
• Iowa State’s 2016-17 roster includes 14 players from eight states and two countries (U.S., Canada)…the Cyclones have three players from Milwaukee and four total from Wisconsin…ISU also has two players from the province of Ontario.
• ISU returns 42.9 percent of its scoring, 34.1 percent of rebounding, 26.1 percent of blocks and 55.0 percent of steals from 2015-16.
• Iowa State has five left-handed players on its roster (Bowie, Burton, Jackson, Long, Nezlek).
• Iowa State was picked to finish fourth by the league’s coaches…the Cyclones were the only team other than Kansas to garner a first-place vote.
• Iowa State has posted five-straight 10-win league seasons: 2012 (12), 2013 (11), 2014 (11), 2015 (12), 2016 (10).
