Iowa State Men’s Basketball 2013-2014

By: Joe Boehm

         I love basketball. It is definitely my favorite sport. I like to watch college basketball and the team I watch is Iowa State. Last year, they made the NCAA tournament and went to the round of 32 before losing on a buzzer-beater shot. ISU would lose 5 seniors. Nobody had any faith in them after that. The next year they would come back with 2 returning starters in Georges Niang and Melvin Ejim. ISU also got 2 transfers that were immediately eligible to play. They were Dustin Hogue and DeAndre Kane. Kane graduated from Marshall and had one more year to play and he choose ISU because Fred Hoiberg is a great coach and could get him into the NBA.

         ISU got off to a good start going 14-0 before losing a road battle to a good Oklahoma team coached by Lon Kruger. Iowa State was stunned. They would try to rebound but would fall short in two strait games to Texas and then to Kansas. ISU was 14-3 and ranked #16 in the nation. Iowa State finally won a game against a top 25 Kansas State team. After that, they would have bad luck with Kansas again. ISU would rebound with a revenge win against Oklahoma and another 3 OT thriller on the road against Oklahoma State. Yet another win would come with a record setting 48 pt. 18 rb. game by Melvin Ejim. This would leave ISU at a 17-4 record and would stay at #16 in the nation.

         Iowa State would finish the regular season 23-7 and head to the Big 12 tournament with a 4 seed. ISU would play KSU in the first round and win. They would then face their arch rivals, the Kansas Jayhawks. Iowa State had built up a lot of hate against Kansas because of the cheep ways they always beat Iowa State. Last year, they won off a banked-in 3 at the buzzer. The next game that season Kansas won because of all of the bad calls by the refs in the closing minute. This time, ISU would beat them. Finally they would beat Kansas and Move on to the championship for the first time since 2000. Baylor would beat Oklahoma and advance also. It was the Big 12 Championship. Iowa State missed their first 13 shots. Baylor took advantage and get the lead. The second half was a different story. Iowa State was in control and playing well. They would win the game.

         On “Selection Sunday”, Iowa State got a #3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  The first game would be against a #14 seeded North Carolina Central. Iowa State would handle them and win by 18. The next game would be harder. ISU would play North Carolina. They were a better team with lots of size. Iowa State jumped out to an early lead and led by 3 at half. North Carolina would be in control throughout the second half. Late in the second half, Iowa State was desperate for a score. Naz Long came to the rescue. He hit two clutch 3’s to cut the North Carolina lead to 2 points. A steal from DeAndre Kane would lead to a layup by Melvin Ejim. Tie game. North Carolina didn’t score the next possession and Iowa State had the option to send the game to overtime, or go for the win. DeAndre Kane wanted to win. He drove in the lane and scored a layup. Iowa State was going on to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2000. Iowa State would get an even harder matchup in UCONN. Iowa State would finally lose and head home with a ending record of 28-8.