Coming off of a season that had Iowa State dead last in the conference and 5 games below .500 for the year, the only direction Cyclone fans can look is up. The Cyclones started the year with a road loss to Missouri and an embarrassing 18 point loss to Milwaukee at home. They were able to win the rest of their non-con games before conference play began but once it did, Iowa State couldn’t compete with the rest of the league. Donovan Jackson will be a huge loss from a scoring perspective, but one player that shined last year that is returning was freshman phenom Lindell Wigginton. He finished 2017-2018 with 16.7 PPG with 3.7 RPG and 2.8 APG on 40% 3-Point Shooting. Other key contributors like senior Nick Weiler-Babb (11.3 PPG and 7 RPG) and Junior Solomon Young (7.2 PPG) return to a team that should be improved from a year ago. Wigginton, will be ESPN 100 guard Talen Horton-Tucker who will be fighting for a starting spot whether that be the 2 or 3 position. Fortunately for the Cyclones, Cameron Lard has recovered and enrolled back into Iowa State, so he will be playing this year as he looked promising his freshman year as well (12.8 PPG and 7 RPG). Another impact player that will be coming into the program this year is Virginia Transfer Marial Shayok that will have a very good chance of starting this year and it will truly be a battle as to whether Shayok or Horton-Tucker starts. But for now, ill take the freshman over Shayok, but Shayok will be a huge 6th man and give the Cyclones a boost. Iowa State was 203rd in scoring and 259th in points against, as well as 0-10 on the road last year. Consistent scoring and handling a road environment will be the key to winning more ball games this year.
Notable Non-Conference Games:
November, 9th- Vs. Missouri
November, 19th- Arizona (Maui Invitational)
November, 20th- Gonzaga/Illinois (Maui Invitational)
December, 6th- At. Iowa
January, 26th- At. Ole Miss (Big 12/SEC Challenge)
Iowa State’s schedule is pretty similar to last year except they’ll be competing in the Maui Invitational rather than the Puerto Rico Tip Off Classic. ISU plays Michael Porter Jr. less Missouri as for Missouri, that was the only regular season game he played in. A road game against Iowa always is a good game and both teams play up to their competition for that game no matter what the records are for each team. The Big 12/SEC Challenge has Iowa State playing Ole Miss in Oxford. After starting the challenge 2-0, they’ve lost 3 years in a row as Ole Miss has not won one game in this challenge yet at 0-5.
Projected Starting Lineup
PG- Lindell Wigginton (So.)
SG- Nick Weiler-Babb (Sr.)
SF- Talen Horton-Tucker (Fr.)
PF- Solomon Young (Jr.)
C- Cameron Lard (So.)
Projected Finish:
NCAA Tournament, First Round
