Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Utah on February 24, 2026 , Win , 75, to, 59
Final
Men's Basketball
75
Utah
59
Iowa State University Athletics
ISU Faces EA Sports In Exhibition Opener
11.01.2006 | Men's Basketball
IOWA STATE vs. EA SPORTS ? Nov. 3, 2006 ? 7 p.m. ? Hilton Coliseum (14,092)
Cyclone Radio Network: John Walters (pxp) and Eric Heft (color)
Television: None
Webcast: Free webcast is available here at Cyclones.com
Gameday Quick Facts
Iowa State kicks off the Greg McDermott era with an exhibition matchup vs. EA Sports Friday night at 7 p.m., in Hilton Coliseum...Iowa State is 36-3 all-time in exhibition games...one of its three exhibition losses occurred last season vs. EA Sports in the exhibition opener...a number of newcomers will see action for the first time in a Cyclone uniform on Friday...ISU has a total of eight newcomers on its team, six scholarship players and two walk-ons...ISU junior forward Jiri Hubalek, who started 20 games and averaged 8.6 ppg a year ago, will play in the two exhibition games but will miss the first six contests of the regular-season because of a NCAA rule violation...he will be eligible for ISU's game at Northern Iowa on Nov. 29...junior guard Mike Taylor has been suspended indefinitely for academic reasons and will not play vs. EA Sports...senior Jessan Gray has a cracked wrist and will not be available for Friday's game...his status after that is day-to-day.
A New Look In Hilton
Iowa State fans will get their first glimpse of the major additions to Hilton Coliseum in ISU's exhibition opener...A spectacular new Daktronics score and video board was added in late September...the system includes a center-hung score and video display featuring Daktronics' ProStar technology and ProAd digital displays...the new video boards have the capability to showcase game information, statistics, amazing colorful animation and spectacular video images...in addition, a new ribbon board was added around the upper concourse.
Cyclone Update
Iowa State head coach Greg McDermott enters his first season with the Cyclones with just four returning scholarship players...McDermott has a long track record of turning programs into postseason participants...he took over a Wayne State program that was 7-21 in his previous season and made them NCAA contenders...he did the same thing at UNI, where the Panthers were 7-24 prior to his arrival and went to three-straight NCAA tournaments in his last three seasons...McDermott and his staff did pick up some key additions in their brief time to recruit...a couple of late season additions will bolster the backcourt...junior college transfers Mike Taylor and Corey McIntosh will be the primary contributors at the guard position...Taylor is a slasher and scorer with incredible leaping ability...McIntosh is a solid point guard who led his team to the California Junior College title en route to California Junior College Player of the Year honors...ISU's top returner is junior forward Rahshon Clark...Clark was named to the Big 12's all-underrated team after averaging 13.1 points and a team-high 5.5 rebounds last season...his jumping ability allows him to be effective in the paint, but he also proved to be a sound outside shooter, hitting 45-of-121 (37.2 percent) shots from downtown...Clark also tallied 31 blocks and 43 steals...his 94 career steals already ranks 17th on the ISU career theft list...returnees Jiri Hubalek, Ross Marsden and Jessan Gray will also help ISU's frontcourt...Hubalek, a 6-11 junior forward from Prague, Czech Republic, started 20 of the last 26 games, averaging 8.6 points and 3.9 rebounds...an extremely versatile player, Hubalek can cause matchup problems because of his ability to hit outside shots...Marsden, a sophomore from Ames, forged his way into the starting lineup 18 times as a rookie, hitting 53.2 percent of his shots from the field...Gray, a senior from Davenport, came of the bench in 19 games while struggling from injuries a year ago...despite his size (6-10), Gray is more suited for the 2 and 3 position...two newcomers will provide depth in the frontcourt in freshman Cory Johnson and freshman Wesley Johnson...Cory Johnson was one of the top-150 players in the nation last year and was a finalist for Mr. Basketball honors in the state of Minnesota...he will provide toughness for ISU at the 3 and 4 position...Wesley Johnson, a 6-7 swingman, is very similar player to Rahshon Clark, extremely athletic with tremendous jumping ability.
Scouting EA Sports
Iowa State plays a Global Sports/EA Sports team for the eighth consecutive season...ISU is 6-1 all-time vs. a Global Sports/EA Sports team, falling last season in the exhibition opener, 64-57...EA Sports will play its first game on its tour on Nov. 1 vs. Utah State and will travel to Creighton on Thursday (Nov. 2)...EA Sports is coached by Maury Hanks, who was a former assistant at Drake on Rudy Washington's staff...Roy Stigall and Abdul Mills played on last year's team that defeated Iowa State...Stigall and Mills tallied four points each...this will actually be the third season Stigall has played for EA Sports...he scored nine points in the game vs. ISU in 2004...Mills transferred to Nebraska-Omaha after averaging 14.1 ppg in his final season at Providence...Jason Forte averaged 8.5 ppg last season while playing for former ISU head coach Larry Eustachy at Southern Mississippi.
EA Sports Roster
No. Name Ht. Wt. Previous School
1 Roy Stigall 5-10 160 Chaminade
10 Shantay Legans 5-10 170 Fresno State
22 Troy Devries 6-4 190 New Mexico
23 Abdul Mills 6-3 190 Nebraska-Omaha
24 Johnny Mathies 6-0 170 Creighton
32 Jason Forte 6-4 215 Southern Mississippi
40 Jermaine Blackburn 6-7 220 Boise State
42 Tedric Hill 6-11 250 Gulf Coast College
44 Tez Banks 6-9 230 Boise State
50 Geoff Husted 6-11 275 Gannon
54 Joe Dabbert 6-10 260 Creighton Head Coach: Maury Hanks
Iowa State Team Quick Facts
? Iowa State has just four returning scholarship players from last season.
? ISU head coach Greg McDermott is the first native Iowan to coach the Cyclone men's basketball team since Clayton Sutherland (1948-54)...McDermott is from Cascade; Sutherland was from Nashua.
? Head coach Greg McDermott will play all three of his former schools where he was a head coach at in his first season with the Cyclones (Wayne State, 1995-00, Nov. 6; No. Dakota St., 2001, Dec. 31; UNI, 2002-06, Nov. 29).
? Junior Jiri Hubalek will miss the first six games of the season due to a NCAA rules violation...his first game where he is eligible to play will be McDermott's homecoming to Northern Iowa (Nov. 29).
? Mike Taylor broke Rahshon Clark's school-record for step vertical leap with a jump of 39 1/2 inches...Clark had the previous record at 37 1/2 inches.
? Wesley Johnson broke Will Blalock's school-record for standing vertical leap at 34 inches...Blalock's record was at 33 1/2 inches...Johnson also broke ISU's record in the step vertical leap with a 41-inch jump.
? ISU head coach Greg McDermott is in his first season with the Cyclones, but he is already the seventh-longest tenured coach in the league...of the six new coaches in the league (Mike Anderson, Missouri; Bob Huggins, Kansas State; Doc Sadler, Nebraska; Jeff Capel, Oklahoma; Sean Sutton, Oklahoma State; Greg McDermott, Iowa State), McDermott was the first to be hired.
? ESPN.com picked Hilton Coliseum as the "Hot Arena" in the Big 12...coaches in the league noted that, "regardless of talent, the Cyclones have a home court like no other."
? ISU junior college transfers Corey McIntosh and Mike Taylor have witnessed a ton of success in their collegiate playing career...McIntosh tallied a 59-9 record in his two seasons in JC ball, while Taylor recorded a 62-8 mark in his two seasons at Chipola JC...the pair posted a combined 121-17 record in their two years in junior college.
Preseason Predictions
With only four returning scholarship players, most preseason publications don't have the Cyclones finishing among the Big 12 leaders...here is a brief look where the Cyclones rank in the preseason polls: Big 12 Coaches: 11th, Street & Smith's: 11th, Lindy's: 8th, Athlon's: 11th, Sporting News: 10th.
McDermott Among Top-50 Winningest Active Coaches
Iowa State head coach Greg McDermott has the 41st-best winning percentage among active NCAA coaches...McDermott is 221-127 in 12 seasons as a head coach for a 63.5 percent winning percentage...Gonzaga's Mark Few heads the list at 82.1 percent (188-41).
Iowa State In Exhibitions
Iowa State has a 36-3 all-time record in exhibitions dating back to the 1983-84 season when they defeated Brandon, a Canadian school, 81-45...ISU's three losses in exhibition action came in 1994, 1997 and 2005...the 1994-95 squad lost to Marathon Oil, 95-85...the Cyclones played that game without one of its star players Loren Meyer, who was sitting out a one-game suspension from head coach Tim Floyd...Marathon exploited Meyer's absence in the paint, shooting 52.4 percent from the field...former Northern Iowa standout and Des Moines native Jason Reese, who is UNI's all-time leading scorer, poured in 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 night from the foul line...ISU's other exhibition loss was against World Basketball Opportunities, 83-78, in 1997...former Cyclone and Des Moines native Hurl Beechum scored nine points for WBO.
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