Saturday, February 15th, 2020

Today has been a good day so far.  For starters, the temperature got into the low 40s, so there has been lots of melting snow.  That always makes me happy.  Another thing that made me happy was taking Nolan over to Hilton Coliseum, where we watched the Iowa State Cyclones dominate the Texas Longhorns, 81-52.  I was not expecting such a dominant performance from Iowa State, especially since their star player, Tyrese Haliburton, is now out for the rest of the season due to a wrist fracture.

Michael Jacobson was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he led the team in scoring (21) and rebounding (13).  He was joined in double figures by Solomon Young (17), Prentiss Nixon (17), and Rasir Bolton (10).  The Cyclones got out to an early lead in this game, led by 11 at halftime, scored the first 9 points of the second half, and cruised to an easy victory. 

I believe that this is the 20th ISU men's basketball game that Nolan has attended with me, and it was his 7th conference game.  Like I mentioned in my previous post, one of my goals is to take both Nolan and Maxwell to victories over each of Iowa State's conference opponents.  As of today, Nolan has now seen wins vs Texas, Baylor (2018), Texas Tech (2017), Kansas State (2016), and TCU (2014). 

As for myself, today was the 8th time that I have attended a game between ISU and Texas.  The Cyclones are 7-1 in those games, including wins today, 2017, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and back in 2004.  Texas's lone win came in 2018. 

The Cyclones won the opening tip-off.

GO CYCLONES!!

Saturday, February 8th, 2020

Maxwell and I just got back from Hilton Coliseum, where we witnessed Iowa State's victory over the Kansas State Wildcats, 73-63.  Coming into tonight's game, the Cyclones and the Wildcats were tied for 8th place in the conference with 2-7 records.  The only conference team with a worse record is Oklahoma State.  Despite this not exactly being a battle of heavyweights, it was nice to see the Cyclones come out on top.  Especially considering that Iowa State's best player Tyrese Haliburton had to leave the game late in the first half after re-aggravating a left wrist injury.

Prior to Haliburton's injury, the Cyclones opened up a 21 point lead in the first half.  Kansas State was able to get within 4 points in the second half before Iowa State managed to get some separation with timely shooting by Terrence Lewis and Prentiss Nixon.  The player of the game today had to be Solomon Young, who scored 20 points.  He was joined in double figures for the Cyclones by Rasir Bolton (13) and Lewis (12).

I believe that tonight marks Maxwell's 14th ISU men's basketball game, and it is his 7th conference game.  One of my goals is to eventually take both Nolan and Maxwell to wins over every team in the Big 12.  After tonight, Maxwell has now seen wins vs Kansas State, West Virginia (2018), TCU (2017), and Baylor (2017). 

Tonight was the seventh time that I have been to an ISU/KSU basketball game.  I'm happy to say that the Cyclones are 6-1 in those games, which includes victories in 2017, 2016, 2013, 2012, 2003, and today.  Kansas State's only win came in 2019. 

Maxwell was pretty tired by the end of the game.  Since it was a 7:00 tip-off, the game did not get over until around 9:00.  

Tuesday, January 21st, 2020

Tonight I went with Jeremy Seago to Hilton Coliseum, where we watched the Iowa State Cyclones defeat the Cowboys of Oklahoma State, 89-82.  It's been kind of a down year for Iowa State basketball, so it was nice to see the good guys get back on track.  Solomon Young was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he came off the bench to score a career high 27 points (including 13-15 free throws).  Young played with a lot of energy, as he also had 9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.  He was joined in double figures scoring for the Cyclones by Rasir Bolton (21) and Tyrese Haliburton (20). 

Tonight was the seventh time that I have watched the Cyclones and Cowboys play basketball.  Iowa State has won six of those contests (tonight, 2019, 2017, 2015, 2014, and in 2013), while the Cowboys won back in 2018. 

GO CYCLONES!

Saturday, January 11th, 2020

Happy New Year everyone.  Tonight I am pleased to say that Iowa State is back in the win column, after an 81-68 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners.  Jeremy Seago went with me to tonight's game, to watch the strong performance by the Cyclones.   Iowa State came out this game with a lot of intensity,  and they were able to build a 17 point lead at halftime, 42-25.  One amazing play that will stick out from this game was a steal right before halftime that led to a Tyrese Haliburton three pointer at the buzzer, just across the half court line.  It is worth noting that tonight was George Conditt's first career start.  However, the player of tonight's game has to be Rasir Bolton, who led all scorers with 23 points.  Bolton was joined in double figures scoring for the Cyclones by Haliburton (15), Tre Jackson (12), and Terrence Lewis (10).  It was nice to have a couple of players step up on the bench and hit some shots.  In the second half the Cyclones were able to lead by as many as 26 points.

Tonight marks the seventh time that I have seen Iowa State play Oklahoma, with the Cyclones winning six of those contests (2019, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and tonight), while the Sooners won back in 2003 when I was a student at ISU. 

Cyclones win!!

Iowa State won the opening tip.

Tuesday, December 31st, 2019

Well, it is almost the new year, and I could sure use a fresh start with the ISU basketball team.  Tonight I took Maxwell with me to Hilton, where the Cyclones were upset by Florida A&M, 70-68.  Going into the game, the Cyclones were something like a 25 point favorite over the Rattlers.  The Cyclones were without their star player Tyrese Haliburton, but still they should have easily handled a team that was rated as the #324th best team in the country by KenPom, and the Rattlers were 1-9 coming into today's game.  Woof.

This was Maxwell's 13th men's basketball game that he has been to.  Unfortunately, that was an unlucky 13. 

The Cyclones were leading by 9 at halftime, 33-24.  Everything seemed to be in control, but then 10 second half turnovers, bad offense by Iowa State, and some timely shooting by the Rattlers was enough to pull off the upset.  Rasir Bolton was about the only source of offense in the game for Iowa State, as he finished with 29 points. 

I would have to say that tonight was the worst ISU basketball performance that I have seen in person.  The only other game that was close to this was 2017's season opener against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 

Sunday, December 22nd, 2019

Today I took Nolan over to Hilton Coliseum, where we watched the Iowa State Cyclones take down the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons, 89-59.  The Mastodons are part of the Summit League, and they have a funny name... Mastodons. 

Tyrese Haliburton was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he led all scorers with 22 points.  He connected on 6 three pointers, and had 6 assists.  He was joined in double figures by Solomon Young (15) and Terrence Lewis (11).  Since the students were mostly gone due to Christmas break, and the game being a blowout, it was a relatively quiet arena in the second half. 

Today marks the 19th ISU men's basketball game that I have taken Nolan to.  The previous game was also to a team with a funny name, the Kangaroos of UMKC. 

The weather today was unusually warm for being just a few days from Christmas.  When we left Hilton the temperature was 55 degrees!  Walking out of the stadium I ended up bumping into my 4th grade teacher and her family, which was fun to visit with them for a moment. 

Go STATE!

Sunday, December 8th, 2019

Today was a good day.  For starters, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the New England Patriots.  Iowa State's Football team was invited to the Camping World Bowl in Orlando, where they will face off against Notre Dame on December 28th.  Finally, Iowa State's basketball team defeated the 16th-ranked Seton Hall Pirates, 76-66. 

I took Jeremy with me today to watch the game.  Iowa State really was cold shooting the ball to start the game, as they started 2-17 from the field.  Thankfully, a strong defensive effort kept them in the game, and the Cyclones managed to lead at halftime, 28-26.  Iowa State kept up the intensity in the second half, and made enough shots to get some separation.  The Cyclones then made their free-throws down the stretch to help seal the upset.

It's hard to pick a player of the game, as three Cyclones tied for the lead with 17 points each.  I guess that I will go with Haliburton yet again, as he did a good job running the offense, had 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and he made a clutch 3-pointer down the stretch.  He was joined in double figures scoring by Rasir Bolton (17), George Conditt (17), and Prentiss Nixon (10).  The last time I attended a basketball game where the Cyclones defeated a ranked team was against #5 Kansas last season.

Tip-off between Iowa State and Seton Hall.