I am so proud of this Cyclone team this year! A lot has transpired since my last blog post. First on Friday Iowa State defeated North Carolina Central 93-75 to advance to the round of 32. The win proved costly however as the Cyclones lost Georges Niang for the rest of the season with a fractured 5th metatarsal. Then today Iowa State found a way to win without possibly their best offensive player as they beat the North Carolina Tar Heels, 85-83. In the end, DeAndre Kane was the hero for Iowa State. With the game tied, Kane drove the lane and banked in the game-winner with less than 2 seconds remaining. He finished the game with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
DeAndre Kane shooting the game winner to beat North Carolina!
Today we also had a couple of visitors stop by. First my old college roommate Jerome stopped by and got to meet Nolan. Then Amy stopped in since she was driving back to her place from Davenport. Amy stayed to watch the game with us and have supper. Maybe she is a good luck charm... we might have to watch all the tournament games with her from now on!
Yesterday, Elizabeth and I took Nolan to watch the ISU women play in the NCAA tournament. Sadly, they played pretty poorly and lost to Florida State. Still, it was a fun weekend of basketball for us Cyclone fans!
P.S. If you are keeping track, Nolan is now 36 weeks old!
Jamie, Maddie, Elizabeth, and Nolan pose with Cy at the woman's game yesterday.
Nolan's ear muffs keep him happy and safe from all of the loud noise at the game :)
SELECTION SUNDAY!! One of my favorite days of the year. The questions regarding Iowa State's position in the NCAA tournament that I have been wondering for months have finally been answered! Iowa State is a 3-seed and will face 14-seed...
Public Enemy #1: North Carolina Central Eagles
North Carolina Central is a small college located in Durham, North Carolina. The Eagles play in the MEAC conference (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference). This will be the school's first ever appearance in the NCAA tournament.
It's worth noting that Iowa State has met up with a team from the MEAC in the tournament once before... and it was one of the darkest days in Cyclone athletics history. In 2001, the 15 seed Hampton Pirates upset #2 seeded Iowa State.
Overall, this has been a great basketball season for Iowa State.
I count a total of 9 teams that made the big dance this year that Iowa State has defeated:
Hopefully if Iowa State defeats North Carolina Central (and they should), the Cyclones would then face the winner between the North Carolina Tar Heels (6-seed) and the Providence Friars (11-seed).
Let's see, what words am I looking for... oh yeah... HELL YES, HELL YES, HELL YES!!! Yep, those words sum it up pretty well.
I'm very excited right now because the Iowa State Cyclones just defeated Baylor 74-65 to win the Big 12 tournament championship! This is only the second time that Iowa State has won the Big 12 tournament, the first since the 1999-2000 season. Iowa State trailed for most of the game but ended up finding enough ways to score on the pesky Baylor zone defense down the stretch to pull out the win! Five Cyclones finished scoring in double figures (Kane 17, Niang 13, Long 12, Hogue 12, Ejim 10). To win the title, Iowa State had to defeat Kansas State on Thursday, Kansas on Friday, and finally Baylor today.
I've said it before, but March is definitely my favorite month. College basketball is a big part of why. Also... my birthday, St. Patrick's day, and just seeing the snow thaw is always good for the morale. Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year, Selection Sunday. It is always fun to see who Iowa State will be paired up with in the "big dance".
Besides the awesome win for the Cyclones, today was an enjoyable day because my parents Eben & Lynn came down to visit along with my grandma Natalie. We had a good time playing with Nolan. He is still kind of shy around them, and he tried not to wander too far away from me. We did get a cute video of him "blowing kisses" at grandma Lynn and great grandma Natalie.
Yesterday was Senior Day at Hilton Coliseum, and it turned out to be quite the memorable game. Oklahoma State led for most of the game, and at one point in the second half the Cyclones trailed by 16 points. It was almost too stressful to watch. However, the Cyclones used a big 12-0 second half run and eventually took the lead. Oklahoma State responded and had a chance to seal the victory when they sent Phil Forte to the free throw line for two shots leading 70-68 with about 5 seconds to play. Forte, who is about a 90% free throw shooter, made the first shot but then missed the second. That's when Hilton Magic kicked in. Matt Thomas grabbed the rebound, found DeAndre Kane who passed it up court to Naz Long, and a desperation three pointer was true which sent the crowd at Hilton into a frenzy as the game was headed to overtime. Despite having both Melvin Ejim and Georges Niang fouled out, Iowa State found a way to win in overtime, 85-81.
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