Wednesday, January 31st, 2018

Today after work I was able to bring Maxwell with me to watch the Cyclones knock-off #15 West Virginia, 93-77.  The entire team really played well today, and the victory came as quite the surprise as Iowa State was without their starting guard, Nick Weiler-Babb, due to a knee injury. 

It's pretty hard to pick a player of the game, but I suppose I'll go with Donovan Jackson who led the team with 25 points (including 6 of 10 from three) and dished out 7 assists.  Lindell Wigginton had a great game as he scored 22 points.  Cameron Lard had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, as did Solomon Young, who scored 14 points and collected 10 boards.  The Cyclones never trailed in the game today.

Another fun thing about the game today is that Maxwell got to meet Cy!  He was really excited to see Cy, but once he got close to us Maxwell became a little afraid.  I was going to set Maxwell on the ground next to Cy for a picture, but he started crying... so I ended up holding him and took a selfie :)

Let's see, I believe this is the third time I've been to an ISU-WVU basketball game.  Iowa State won on Georges Niang's last-second basket back in 2013, and the Mountaineers won last year's game.  This was the first time that I've gotten a good scoreboard photo of a win vs. West Virginia, so now I have at least one picture for every Big 12 school. 

This should be the fourth Big 12 game that Maxwell has been to.  The previous games were Texas this year, TCU in 2017, and Baylor in 2017.  Overall, I believe that this was the 7th basketball game that Maxwell has been to.  Also, MAXWELL IS TURNING 2 YEARS OLD TOMORROW!!! 

Cy!

What a nice smile Maxwell!

Saturday, January 20th, 2018

Iowa State just beat the #8 team in the nation!  Today I was able to watch the Cyclones defeat #8 Texas Tech, 70-52.  The 18-point victory for Iowa State was their largest margin of victory against any top-10 team in school history. 

Cameron Lard was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he led the team with 18 points while shooting 9 of 11 from the field.  He was joined in double figures by teammates Nick Weiler-Babb (13), Donovan Jackson (13), Lindell Wigginton (13), and Zoran Talley (11).  Talley was a big boost off of the bench.  Today's performance was really great to see considering the team has not had the greatest season so far.

This was the sixth time that I have seen Iowa State play (and defeat) Texas Tech.  The previous seasons were 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, and 2012. 

Today marks the 5th time that I have seen Iowa State knock off a top-10 team.  The previous games were against #9 Baylor in 2017,  #1 Oklahoma in 2016, #9 Kansas in 2015, and #7 Michigan in 2013. 

To make today even better, it was unseasonably warm in Ames (high temps in the upper 40s). 

Iowa State won the opening tip.

ISU 70, Texas Tech 52.  

Saturday, January 13th, 2018

Today I took Nolan with me to watch the Iowa State Cyclones defeat the Baylor Bears, 75-65.  It was refreshing to see the Cyclones get back into the win column after starting conference play 0-4.  Of course I have not expected this team to reach the heights of recent years (or the NCAA tournament), given the players that graduated last year, but it is sure fun watching the young players on the roster develop.

As for the game today, it was freshman that led the way.  The player of the game was Lindell Wigginton, who scored a career high 30 points.  He shot 5-10 from three-point range.  Wigginton was joined in double figures by Nick Weiler-Babb (15), Solomon Young (11), and Cameron Lard (11).  Lard was very exciting to watch as he also had 5 blocks. 

Tonight was Nolan's 14th basketball game.  I did not blog about the Texas game earlier this month, which we took the whole family to.  It's just more fun to blog about the victories!  This was also Nolan's 5th conference game (he's also seen wins vs. Texas Tech last season, vs. Kansas State in 2016,  vs. TCU in 2014, and the loss against Texas this year).  Eventually, I would like to bring both of the boys to see wins against every Big 12 team... which I would expect to take a while.  As for the conference games that Maxwell has been to, that would be Baylor last year, TCU last year, and the Texas game this year. 

This was the 4th time that I have seen Iowa State play Baylor.  The Cyclones have won three times (tonight, in 2017, and in 2013), while the Bears ended up winning in 2015. 

The Cyclones won the opening tip.

Way to go Cyclones!!

Tuesday, January 9th, 2018

Happy 34th birthday Elizabeth!!  Tonight we lined up a babysitter for the boys and had a little date night for her birthday.  Elizabeth really wanted sushi, so we went out to Fuji to eat. 

Elizabeth's order... a super crunchy roll and a pretty Alaska roll.  

I ordered some sashimi along with a California roll.  The tuna and the salmon sashimi were both really yummy!