Iowa State Opens Busy Week Against Northern Illinois

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AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State men's basketball team opens a busy week, one in which it will play three games in seven days, with a Monday night showdown against Northern Illinois. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU with an 8 p.m. tipoff.

Where: Ames, Iowa - Hilton Coliseum (14,384)
When: Monday, Dec. 4, 8 p.m. (CST)
Radio: Cyclone Radio Network
Talent: John Walters (PxP), Eric Heft (Analyst)
TV: ESPNU
Talent: Lowell Galindo (PxP), Lance Blanks (Analyst)
Webcast: WatchESPN
Sirius/XM: NA/NA
Live Stats: Cyclonestats.com

Game #7 - Northern Illinois
• Iowa State is back in action after eight days between games as it faces Northern Illinois Monday night at Hilton Coliseum...Monday's game is the first of three games in seven days for the Cyclones, who face intrastate rival Iowa on Thursday night and Alcorn State on Sunday before Finals Week at Iowa State.
• After playing four of its first five games on the road, Iowa State is in the midst of playing its next eight games inside Iowa's borders, including seven of the games at Hilton Coliseum...the lone neutral site game will be Dec. 16 when the Cyclones face Northern Iowa in Des Moines at the Hy-Vee Classic.
#CycloneNotes
• ISU looks to win its fifth consecutive game after starting the season with a pair of losses...a win would mark the fourth winning streak of at least five games the Cyclones have had in the last three seasons under the direction of head coach Steve Prohm.
• Iowa State has leaned on its guard trio of Nick Weiler-Babb, Donovan Jackson and Lindell Wigginton to turn around its early season struggles...the trio is averaging a combined 42.8 points per game, which is 57.8 percent of ISU's total points...they've posted all six of ISU's 20-point games and three of the team's four double-doubles this season.
• Weiler-Babb and Wigginton are among 21 players in college basketball this season to post games of 20 points, five rebounds, six assists and four made 3-pointers...Wigginton is one of just three freshmen to post those stats in a game (Tremont Waters, LSU; Bubba Parham, VMI).
• Weiler-Babb has proven to be the point guard the Cyclones were looking for since moving into the role of primary ball handler at the start of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off...he earned tournament MVP honors and was named Big 12 Player of the Week for his performance in Myrtle Beach...he is the only player in the nation averaging at least 14.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg and 6.0 apg...he's recorded two double-doubles, one points-rebounds and one points-assists...he's got a 3.2 assist-to-turnover this season, including 6.0 during the Cyclones' four-game win streak.
• Wigginton had his best game as a Cyclone against Western Illinois (21 pts-5 rbs-6 assts) and is second among Big 12 freshmen averaging 13.0 points per game...his 20-point performance was ISU's first by a Cyclone freshman since Calvin Godfrey in 2010-11...in ISU's winning streak he is averaging 15.0 ppg...nationally, Wigginton is one of six freshmen averaging 13 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.5 apg and with 10 or more 3-pointers made.
• In the last four games, Jackson is averaging 21.3 points and connecting on 44.1 percent of his 3-point attempts...the Milwaukee native is one of five players in the nation shooting 40 percent behind arc (at least 15 made threes) and 95 percent at the line (at least 20 made).
• During its four-game winning streak, ISU has increased its scoring average by 24.7 points (57.5 to 82.2), its field-goal percentage by nearly nine percent (38.8% to 46.6%) while improving its rebounding margin from -6.5 to +7.8...ISU also shot just 26.5 percent (9-34) from long range the first two games and has connected at a 37.4 percent clip (37-99) the last four games.
• Cameron Lard scored 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting against Western Illinois, his second game in double figures...Lard, Texas' Mo Bamba and Oklahoma's Brady Manek are the only Big 12 freshmen averaging 7.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game.

Iowa State Quick Hitters
• Iowa State has sold out 31 of the last 37 games at Hilton Coliseum...ISU is 27-6 at Hilton Coliseum under Prohm.
• ISU has been to a school-record six consecutive NCAA Tournaments...the Cyclones have made two Sweet 16 appearances in the last three seasons...ISU is the first school from the state of Iowa to reach six consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
• Iowa State has won three regular season tournaments in the last five seasons.
• The Cyclones have won three of the last four Big 12 Tournament titles.
• Wins By Big 12 Teams Since 2012-13: Kansas 152, Baylor 127, Iowa State 127.
• Iowa State is one of 25 teams nationally and one of just two Big 12 schools with 100 wins since 2013-14 entering the season.
• ISU has won 20+ games the last six seasons...Steve Prohm has won at least 20 games in each of his six seasons as a head coach.
• Iowa State is one of 23 schools to win 20+ games the last six seasons...only 13 teams in the nation's top-six conferences (Big East, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC) have won 20+ games six consecutive seasons.
• The Cyclones have won at least 10 league games in each of the last six seasons, which is a school record.
• The Cyclones have won 45 of their last 52 games at home, including 25 of 30 league games.
• The Cyclones are 36-14 under Prohm when committing fewer turnovers than their opponent.
• ISU is 44-3 when leading at the half under Prohm, including an active 30-game win streak in such games.
• ISU is averaging 9.3 made 3-pointers per game over the last four contests...the Cyclones made nine total the first two games of the season...since Prohm arrived at Iowa State, among the nation's top-6 leagues only Michigan (42) has had more games with 10 or more 3-pointers made than ISU (34).
• ISU has outrebounded its last four opponents after being outrebounded the first two games.
• Dating back to last season, ISU has won eight of its last nine games decided by 10 points or less.
• ISU shot below 40 percent the first two games but has topped 43 percent from the field the last four games.
• ISU has had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio the last four games after having a negative ratio the first two games.
• Weiler-Babb has made 14-of-his-last-15 free throw attempts.
• Steve Prohm won his 50th game as head coach of the Cyclones when ISU beat Boise State...only Tim Floyd & Larry Eustachy reached 50 wins faster.
• According to KenPom.com, ISU owns the third-best homecourt advantage in Division I when playing at Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State-Northern Illinois Series Notes
• Iowa State and Northern Illinois are meeting for the seventh time in series, with ISU holding a 4-2 edge in the series...this is the third meeting between the schools since 2011...NIU hasn't defeated Iowa State since the 1970-71 season.
• This will be Steve Prohm's first time facing Northern Illinois and head coach Mark Montgomery.
• The Cyclones have had a number of key contributors transfer in from Northern Illinois recently...graduate transfers Jake Anderson and Darrell Bowie played significant roles for the Cyclones, but none had a bigger impact than current Boston Celtic Abdel Nader, a member of back-to-back NCAA Tournament qualifiers and the 2015 Big 12 Tournament championship team.
• Iowa State's Donovan Jackson and Northern Illinois' Levi Bradley were high school teammates at Pius XI in Milwaukee.
• ISU is 12-3 all-time against teams currently in the Mid-American Conference.

Last Time Out: Defense Leads Cyclones Past Western Illinois
• Iowa State held Western Illinois to 32.8 percent shooting, including 30 percent in the second half, to defeat the Leathernecks, 70-45, at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday, Nov. 25...it was the lowest shooting percentage by a Cyclone opponent this season and the lowest since Omaha shot 28.4 percent during the 2016-17 season.
• ISU was led by 47 points from the freshmen group of Wigginton (21), Lard (14) and Terrence Lewis (12)...all three players posted career highs.
• Weiler-Babb had 10 assists, his second career game with double-digit assists, as ISU recorded a season-high 17 dimes.
• ISU hit 10 three-pointers for the third time in the last four games.

Up Next: Iowa
• Iowa State and Iowa will meet for the 71st time in an Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series matchup on Thursday, Dec. 7...ISU has won six of the last eight meetings, but Iowa owns a 44-26 edge all-time...the Cyclones lead 19-16 in games played in Ames (16-8 at Hilton Coliseum)...ISU hasn't lost to Iowa in Ames since the 2003 NIT...the home team has won 12 of the last 14 meetings in the series.

Iowa State Opens Busy Week Against Northern Illinois

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Players Mentioned

Donovan Jackson

Cameron Lard

Terrence Lewis

Nick Weiler-Babb

Lindell Wigginton

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Iowa State Opens Busy Week Against Northern Illinois

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Players Mentioned

Donovan Jackson

Cameron Lard

Terrence Lewis

Nick Weiler-Babb

Lindell Wigginton

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