MBB: ISU Prepares For Big 12 Championship

Jeremy · 03-08-2007, 08:20 AM

MBB: ISU Prepares For Big 12 Championship
Media Relations

#8 Iowa State (15-15, 6-10) vs. #9 Oklahoma (15-14, 6-10)
Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship • March 8, 2007 • 11:30 a.m.
Oklahoma City, Okla. • Ford Center (18,879)
Radio: Cyclone Radio Network; John Walters (pxp), Eric Heft (color)
Television: ESPN Regional; Dave Armstrong (pxp), Reid Gettys (color)
Television Affiliates: ESPNU, WOI (Ames/Des Moines), KFXA (Cedar Rapids/Waterloo), KYOU (Ottumwa), Mediacom (Sioux City)

Gameday Quick Facts

No. 8 seed Iowa State (15-15, 6-10) will battle No. 9 seed Oklahoma (15-14, 6-10) in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, March 8 in Oklahoma City Okla...the winner of the game will face No. 1 seed Kansas on Friday (March 9)...the games will be played at the Ford Center...ISU has never played in the Ford Center, but ISU head coach Greg McDermott took his former Northern Iowa team to the Ford Center in the 2005 NCAA Tournament...UNI lost 57-52 to Wisconsin.

Iowa State Conference Tournament History

The Cyclones earned the 8th seed in the Big 12 Championship for the second time in school history...ISU was the eighth seed in 2003-04...the Cyclones are 7-9 in Big 12 Tournament history, including a championship in 2000...ISU is 65-81 all-time in conference tournaments with four league tournament championships to its credit...the Cyclones face ninth-seeded Oklahoma in the opening round...ISU is 1-0 against the Sooners in Big 12 Championship history and 10-13 vs. OU all-time in league tournament games...ISU defeated OU in the championship game of the 2000 Big 12 Tournament, downing the Sooners, 70-58...the Cyclones defeated OU on Feb. 13 in Ames, handing the Sooners a 58-51 defeat in Hilton Coliseum, starting a six-game skid for OU...if the Cyclones advance against OU, they will face the top-seed Jayhawks of Kansas...ISU is 0-2 vs. KU in the Big 12 Tournament, losing its last meeting 89-74 in 2003...ISU is 7-18 overall vs. the Jayhawks in conference tournament history...the Cyclones lost twice to KU this season (68-64 ot, 89-52)...ISU is 2-4 against Big 12 South teams this season.

Cyclone Update

Iowa State (15-15, 6-10) came up short on Senior Night for the first time since 2002, losing in the final seconds to Texas Tech, 63-61 in Hilton Coliseum Saturday night...ISU went scoreless for over five minutes from the field in the second half, missing nine-straight shots to help Tech take the lead...TTU had a seven point lead with less than three minutes remaining, but ISU cut the deficit to one-point behind a pair of treys from Mike Taylor and Wesley Johnson...ISU had a chance to tie or win with the last possession, but the Cyclones were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer...ISU shot just 29.6 percent (8-of-27) in the second half...the Cyclones are now 1-10 lifetime against Bob Knight-coached teams...Jiri Hubalek was solid for the Cyclones, tallying 25 points, one shy of his career high of 26 against Oklahoma...Hubalek was 9-for-17 from the floor and grabbed eight boards in the loss...he scored ISU’s first 13 points of the game...the junior is ninth in the Big 12 in rebounding at 6.9 boards per game...Wesley Johnson chipped in with 16 points and six boards...Johnson, who sank two treys in the game, now has 31 3-pointers on the season, the third-best freshman season effort in school history...Johnson has a team-high 239 boards to rank fourth in the Big 12 in rebounding (8.0 rpg)...Johnson’s 239 rebounds is the sixth-best total by a freshman in Big 12 history...he is seven rebounds behind Oklahoma State’s Ivan McFarlin in fifth place (246)...Mike Taylor ended the game with just five points, but dished out seven assists...Taylor kept his school-record streak alive by hitting one 3-pointer...Taylor has hit a trey in 26 consecutive games...the Cyclones were 5-of-18 from 3-point range against the Red Raiders...ISU has 196 treys on the season, five shy of the single-season school record set by last year’s team with 201...the Cyclones ended their four-game streak of getting outboarded, outrebounding Texas Tech, 42-32.

What Happened Last Time?

Iowa State defeated Oklahoma, 58-51 in Hilton Coliseum on Feb. 13 in the teams only meeting this season...Jiri Hubalek was virtually unstoppable in the game, tallying a career-high 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field...Hubalek also grabbed nine boards...ISU shot a Big 12-high 48.9 percent from the field and held OU to 38.5 percent...the Cyclones held a 32-17 halftime advantage...Rahshon Clark added 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting for ISU...OU’s Longar Longar scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds...ISU held Nate Carter in check, keeping him scoreless from the field (0-for-5).

Oklahoma (15-14, 6-10)

Oklahoma (15-14, 6-10) leads the all-time series vs. Iowa State at 105-77...OU defeated ISU last season in Norman, 83-82 in the teams only meeting...the Sooners won in miraculous fashion, rallying from a seven-point deficit with 1:12 left in the game...ISU head coach Greg McDermott will face Oklahoma and a Jeff Capel-coached team for the second time, owning a 1-0 mark vs. Capel...Sooner freshman Bobby Maze and ISU rookie Wesley Johnson both played on the same AAU team, the Dallas Mustangs...Sooner freshmen Tony Crocker and Bobby Maze played for The Patterson School prep school in North Carolina last season...Wesley Johnson was briefly on the team before transferring to another prep school (Eldon Academy)...Oklahoma assistant coach Rod Barnes was the head coach at Ole Miss from 1999-2006...ISU defeated Barnes’ Rebel squad in 2000 (73-68) in Laie, Hawaii...it was the last time ISU defeated a rank team on a neutral court...Oklahoma lost its sixth-straight game on Saturday, falling 72-61 at Kansas State...Nate Carter led the Sooners with 14 points and seven rebounds...OU’s six-game losing skid starting with its loss to Iowa State...OU had won its four previous games...Carter, who is averaging 11.4 points and 5.0 rebounds, has been on a tear since league play began...Carter is averaging 16.5 points and 7.1 rebounds in conference games only...his 49.2 percentage clip from the field ranks fifth in the Big 12 and his 87.5 percentage from the foul line ranks second in the league in conference games only...junior Longar Longar, a 6-11 center from Rochester, Minn., is averaging 10.7 points and 7.1 rebounds...he is shooting 55.8 percent from the field...the Sooners are an outstanding rebounding team, ranking third in the Big 12 in rebounding margin at +4.8...the Sooners have been tough on the defensive end, holding their opponents to a 40.2 percent clip from the field to rank third in the conference.

Fletch · 03-08-2007, 10:33 AM

Bluto: Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!!!

Otter: Germans?

Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.

Alright guys today its all or nothing!!! We may have had a relatively rough year but we aren' out of this yet. As my old cyclone buddy used to tell me "It only takes four wins!" Heck 2 might get us to the NIT. Anytime we can get WJ some action to prepare for next year is always good thing anyway. So buckle up for a heck of a ride today, and as always........

GO CYCLONES!!!!!!