Tuesday, February 18th, 2025

 Today was a chilly day in Ames, as the temperature was 14 degrees below zero when I got into work this morning.  Days like this really make it hard to wait for the warmer temperatures of springtime.  

Another thing that I always look forward to in spring is March Madness.  Speaking of that, tonight I was able to take Nolan with me to Iowa State's basketball game, where the #8 Cyclones easily handled the Colorado Buffalos, 79-65.  Iowa State started the game out strong and led by a score of 20-5 early on.  From there, the Cyclones cruised to an easy win.  At times the second half seemed a bit boring and sloppy, but a stress-free win is always nice.

It's hard to pick a player of the game today, but I suppose that I will go with Joshua Jefferson, who scored 12 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 4 assists.  He was one of five Cyclones in double figures scoring, including Milan Momcilovic (13), Dishon Jackson (13), Tamin Lipsey (12), and Nate Heise (11).  

I always am happy when one of the boys gets to cross off another Big 12 conference opponent from the list.  Now that Nolan has seen the Cyclones defeat Colorado, he only has 6 more teams to go.  That would include: Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF.  Overall, this was the 42nd men's basketball game that Nolan has attended, and it was his 14th conference win.  As for myself, I really cannot remember if I have seen the Cyclones play Colorado before or not.  I know that there were a handful of games that I went to when I was a student that I was not keeping track of... which possibly could have included Colorado.  But since I've been keeping track, this is the first time I have seen the Cyclones play the Buffaloes.  

GO STATE!

Saturday, February 15th, 2025

This afternoon I took Maxwell over to Hilton Coliseum, where we watched the #10 Iowa State Cyclones take down the Cincinnati Bearcats, 81-70.  

 It was a hard fought and close game for the most part.  At halftime, the score was tied at 39.  Both teams had a couple of technical fouls.  The difference in the game was at the free throw line, where the Cyclones made 26 of 30 attempts.  Curtis Jones was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he led the team with 22 points, and he was a perfect 12 for 12 from the charity stripe.  He was joined in double figures scoring for the Cyclones by Joshua Jefferson (13), Milan Momcilovic (12), and Tamin Lipsey (11).  The Bearcats were led in scoring by Jizzle James, who scored 25 points.  He must have the most ridiculous name of any player that I have seen in Hilton.  

Today's game was the 36th game that Maxwell has been to, and it was his 11th conference win.  There are now only 7 conference teams that Maxwell still needs to see ISU defeat in order to collect them all.  That would be: Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Houston, Oklahoma State, and Utah.  

This was actually the second time that I have seen Iowa State play Cincinnati.  The first time was back in 2016, when Cincinnati came out on top, 55-54.  

Iowa State 81, Cincinnati 70.

Saturday, February 8th, 2025

 Happy National Melvin Ejim Day!  At least that's what I called it on this date back in 2014, when Ejim scored 48 points to lead the Cyclones over the TCU Horned Frogs.  I guess February 8th is a good day for ISU to defeat TCU, as that is exactly what happened today, by a score of 82-52.  Iowa State came into today's game ranked #8 in the country.  

This morning Nolan and I met up with my friend Mike Kazlauskas and his nephew Logan, and we all headed over to Hilton Coliseum a bit earlier than usual.  You see, ESPN College GameDay was in town, and they did a live broadcast from inside Hilton about an hour before today's game.  

As for the game, Curtis Jones led the way for Iowa State, as he scored 24 points and connected on 5-6 from three-point range.  He was joined in double-figures scoring for the Cyclones by Milan Momcilovic (14), Dishon Jackson (14), and Joshua Jefferson (13).  A memorable thing about today's game was that it was the first game Momcilovic has played since January 11th, as he had been out with a broken hand.  The crowd was really excited even when he was going through warm-ups, and it got loud whenever he made a basket.  

Today's game was the 41st game that Nolan has attended, and it was his 13th conference victory.  Nolan has actually seen ISU play TCU 4 times now (2024, 2019, and 2014 were the other times).  

As for myself, this is the eighth time I have attended a basketball game against TCU.  The Cyclones have won 7 of those games (2024, 2020, 2017, 2015, 2014, 2013, and today's game), while the Horned Frogs came out on top in 2019.  

After today's game, the four of us met up with Elizabeth and Maxwell, and we had a nice lunch at Macubana on Welch Avenue.  I had never been there before, but I thought it was very good.  I had the Pancetta Cubano with fries.  Their Belgian fries were very good.  After lunch we all walked around campus, and we showed off a few of the different classrooms to Mike and Logan.  

I didn't get our usual scoreboard photo, but this was a nice selfie at least.