Monday, January 26th, 2015

Tonight I just got back from watching another exciting Iowa State basketball game at Hilton Coliseum.  This time the Cyclones were victorious over the Texas Longhorns, 89-86.  Iowa State jumped out to an early lead which grew to as many as 21 points with about 8 minutes left in the game before Texas mounted a big rally that fell just short in the end.  Ten second-half three pointers for the Longhorns helped to make the game close at the end...

It's starting to get hard to keep track, but tonight was the fifth time that I have seen Iowa State play in a match-up of top-25 ranked teams.  Going into the game today, Iowa State was ranked #15 while Texas was ranked #19.  For a list of the other four games, just scroll down and look at my previous post of the game vs Kansas.  By the way, I'm still happy to say that Iowa State is 5-0 in those games!  It's also interesting to note that the Iowa State men are now 5-0 in games that I have witnessed vs Texas (2014, 2013, 2012, and way back in 2004 were the others).  Looking back at those games, I see that I was wearing the same t-shirt for the game last year, and Texas was also ranked #19 last year as well...

Georges Niang led five Cyclones in double figures scoring.  He had 19 points and connected on three of four from long range.  Bryce Dejean-Jones (18), Jameel McKay (14), Monte Morris (13), and Dustin Hogue (11) also scored in double figures for Iowa State.

Go State!!

Sunday, January 18th, 2015

Ok, technically it is Sunday the 18th, but this post is all about my awesome day on Saturday the 17th!

I had to go out to the bars and celebrate for a little bit before I came home because my Cyclones just knocked off the #9 Kansas Jayhawks, 86-81. This was probably the loudest crowd I have heard at a game in Hilton Coliseum before, and it was really, really a lot of fun to be at.  I would still say that my favorite game that I have attended was last year's game vs. Michigan just because of the Johnny Orr tribute, but tonight was very special.  With this win, I have now witnessed in person Iowa State defeat every team in the Big 12 in basketball.

Overall, this really was a team win for Iowa State, and it is hard to pick a single player of the game.  Six Cyclones scored in double figures including: Naz Long (20), Georges Niang (15), Dustin Hogue (14), Bryce Dejean-Jones (12), Jameel McKay (11), and Monte Morris (11).  If I had to pick one, I would say that Monte Morris deserves to be the player of the game.  He was the only Cyclone to record a double-double tonight as he has 10 assists to go with his 11 points.  He also tied for a team-high 7 rebounds in an all-around solid game for him.  My favorite play of the game was an alley-oop from Morris to McKay where McKay dunked with both hands over a Kansas defender and was fouled on the play.

One aspect of today's game that made it very special was the fact that ESPN's college Gameday was here for the game.  Today marks the first time that the Gameday crew has been to Ames for a game. ESPN analysts Rece Davis, Seth Greenberg, Jay Bilas, and Jay Williams were all in attendance.

Tonight marks the 4th time that I have been in attendance for a top-25 showdown between two ranked teams.  I'm happy to say that Iowa State is 4-0 in those games.  The others were last season's victories vs Texas, vs Oklahoma, and vs Iowa.  Tonight Iowa State was ranked #11 in the AP poll.

The College Gameday crew on the court at Hilton Coliseum

Kansas won the opening tip-off...

...but the better team won the game!!

Wednesday, January 14th, 2015

HAPPY 18 MONTHS TO NOLAN!!

It's hard to believe that he is already a year and a half old.  This evening we took him over to d&orfs photography for his 18-month photo shoot.  It's getting harder and harder to take his picture because he doesn't want to stand still at all.  All we could do is give him some props like ladders or stools which he was happy to crawl all over while she took his picture :)  Here are a few of the photos...

Tuesday, January 6th, 2015

Tonight I went with Jeremy Seago to watch the Iowa State Men's Basketball game against Oklahoma State.  Over the last couple of years you could say that the games between these two teams have been close (remember Naz Long anybody??), and tonight was more of the same.  If I'm being honest, I would rather see the Cyclones win the game easily so I don't have to worry as much, but the nail-biting finishes are fun too.  It was a rather low-scoring game, but the Cyclones found a way to defeat the Cowboys, 63-61.  Dustin Hogue played a key role down the stretch for Iowa State.  He scored the final seven points for the Cyclones before blocking a three point attempt from Tavarius Shine that would have given the Cowboys a one point lead with a second to play.  Hogue also led Iowa State in scoring with 17 points.  He was joined in double figure scoring by George Niang (10) and Matt Thomas (10).  Iowa State had dropped to #17 in the AP top-25 poll this week after their loss to South Carolina, so it was nice to see them get back on track tonight... even if it wasn't the prettiest victory.

I wore my "3sus Saves" t-shirt tonight in honor of Naz Long's performances against Oklahoma State last season.  His two clutch threes (one to send it to a third overtime @ Oklahoma State, and one to force an overtime at home vs the Cowboys) will always be one of the first things I think about when I remember how fun last season's team was to watch.

Cyclones win!!

Thursday, January 1st, 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Today has been a lazy day at home with Elizabeth and Nolan mostly taking naps and recovering from staying up too late yesterday... Elizabeth and I stayed up to watch the ball drop for the new year and shared a bottle of champagne.  Then we decided to watch "Back to the Future Part 2" which is set in the year 2015.  It's pretty funny how 2015 was depicted in this 80's movie... I'm still waiting for my hoverboard!!  Since we didn't start the movie until after midnight we were up pretty late!

Yesterday I also went to the Iowa State men's basketball game against Mississippi Valley State where the Cyclones won 83-33.   This game marked the 100th victory for Fred Hoiberg as the head coach of Iowa State.  This was also the second time that I had seen Iowa State play the Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley State (December 31st, 2011 was the other).

Naz Long led Iowa State with 24 points, and he shot 7-10 from 3-point range.  Joining Long in double figures scoring for Iowa State included Matt Thomas (11) and Jameel McKay (10).  The Cyclones came into the game ranked #9 in the country, which I believe is the highest they have been ranked when I have been in attendance.

Iowa State wins the tip, and they sported gold uniforms for the game.

Sunday, December 14th, 2014

Tonight I went to yet another Cyclone basketball game... an 88-78 victory over the Jaguars from Southern University.  This was actually the second game that I have seen Iowa State play vs Southern, the first being the 2012 season opener.  Southern University is a historically black college located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Their athletics program is part of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).

The Cyclones looked pretty rusty in the first half and actually trailed by 8 points midway through the first half.  This was not too surprising because I expected a bit of an emotional let-down after the big win for Iowa State just two days ago in Iowa City, 90-75.  However, by the second half Iowa State opened up a comfortable lead before coasting to only a 10-point victory.  All five Cyclone starters scored in double-figures.  They were led by Georges Niang and Bryce Dejean-Jones who each scored 18 points.  Other Cyclones in double-figures included Monte Morris (15), Naz Long (13), and Dustin Hogue (10).

The most memorable part of this game was that Southern was given two free throws before the tip-off.  I had never seen that before, but I guess there was a technical foul called on Iowa State because they dunked during warm-ups.

Southern led 2-0 before the opening tip on a pair of free throws after a technical foul on Iowa State.

Iowa State won the tip-off.

Cyclones win!

Tuesday, December 9th, 2014

Tonight Elizabeth and I were able to take Nolan to his first ISU men's basketball game of the season, a 73-56 victory for Iowa State over the Kangaroos of UMKC.  The 17-point victory for Iowa State was actually a surprisingly close game; when these two teams played last year Iowa State blew them out by a score of 110-51.

This was the third time that Nolan has been to a men's basketball game.  His first time was actually against the same UMKC team last year.  His second game was the memorable 48-point performance by Melvin Ejim vs TCU last season.  The game today did not prove to be as exciting, but it was still a lot of fun to take Nolan to a game.  The seats that we had today (4th row of section 133) were definitely the best seats that I have ever had for a game at Hilton Coliseum.  We were right at mid-court and had a spectacular view. Thanks to Erick Ude for getting us the incredible seats today.  Before the game we met up for pizza at Great Plains Sauce & Dough.

Bryce Dejean-Jones was the leading scorer for Iowa State with 22 points.  The only other Cyclone to score in double figures was Monte Morris, who added 13 points.