Iowa State Basketball

Iowa State guard Bryce Dejean-Jones was arrested on Wednesday night on marijuana charges. While charges have been dropped, Fred Hoiberg has decided to suspend the guard for Friday's game against Iowa.

Continue for updates.

Thursday, Dec. 11

Dejean-Jones Suspended for Friday's Game vs. Iowa

CBS Sports' Gary Parrish had the latest on Dejean-Jones' punishment:

Dejean-Jones' Marijuana Charges Dropped

Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register reports that all charges have been dropped:

While the charges have been dropped, future charges are possible, via Travis Haney of ESPN:

ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman, previously reported that the transfer and former UNLV standout was facing a marijuana charge:

Goodman is also reporting that Dejean-Jones has been charged with misdemeanor counts of a nuisance party violation and noise ordinance violation. Police responded to a call that led them to Dejean-Jones' Ames, Iowa apartment, although Ames police department commander Geoff Huff said it wasn't the first time the authorities have dealt with the Iowa State star.

"Officers smelled burnt marijuana when they arrived at the apartment," Huff said. "We had been working with them in the past because there were several noise complaints."

Here is a look at Dejean-Jones' mugshot courtesy of BlackSportsOnline.com's Robert Littal:

Dejean-Jones is the Cyclones' No. 2 scorer this season with over 17 points per game, and he also averages nearly seven rebounds and over three assists per contest as well.

He has been a key figure in Iowa State's 6-1 start, but his status moving forward is very much in question as he is in the midst of significant legal issues.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter

Georges Niang played one of the most overpowering games of his college basketball career Friday, lighting up North Carolina Central for 24 points, six rebounds and four assists. Unfortunately, the 93-75 demolition of the Eagles is also the last time Niang will take the court this season.

Iowa State reports the sophomore forward suffered a serious foot injury in the second-round victory:

As Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg told The Associated Press (via ESPN) after the game, though, "You can't sit here and cry about it. We'll miss him but at the same time, I believe in these guys, the five guys we'll put on the floor." 

Even with one young star gone, Iowa State is far from helpless heading into a round-of-32 showdown with North Carolina. That’s largely because, where Niang would have been the only multithreat player on many power-conference rosters, Iowa State is built around a core of do-it-all talents.

Both Big 12 Player of the Year Melvin Ejim and ex-Marshall point guard DeAndre Kane are outstanding rebounders who are equally at home overpowering smaller defenders or dodging slower ones. Having Niang to supply a third such option against the Tar Heels would have been nice, but his absence is hardly a deal-breaker.

Instead, Ejim, Kane and sixth man Naz Long, who may now become a starter, will likely divide Niang’s shots between them. North Carolina plays so many forwards that Hoiberg wouldn’t have been able to zero in on particular matchups anyway, so this shift is unlikely to make much difference in the game plan the Cyclones would have used.

The biggest concern on offense, as Sports Illustrated's Brian Hamilton observes, could be Niang's passing ability:

However, even then, Ejim and the fast-improving Long will be able to make up for a great deal of production. Niang was the best passer in the ISU frontcourt, but he's not the only effective one.

On defense, Ejim will certainly be tested in a smaller Cyclones front, but he and Dustin Hogue are such strong rebounders (17 boards a game between them) that even the lanky Tar Heels won’t overrun them.

Providence, facing a similar lack of numbers up front Friday, got 11 boards from LaDontae Henton and took this UNC squad down to the wire in a 79-77 loss. 

Another option is to bring 6'9" junior reserve Percy Gibson into the lineup to add size. However, because Gibson and his fellow benchwarmers have played so few meaningful minutes, it seems likelier that they’ll be relegated to spot duty as Ejim and Hogue rest, with the starters—already accustomed to a fast pace and heavy minutes—doing the heavy lifting.

As the tournament progresses, Iowa State is likely to feel the loss of Niang (and the increased strain on the remaining stars) far more than it will Sunday should the team advance. Against the Tar Heels, though, it shouldn’t take radical changes to set the Cyclones up for a trip to the Sweet 16.

The Iowa State Cyclones will take on the North Carolina Central Eagles, winners of 20 straight games, in East Region action Friday.

The underdog Eagles will be looking to upset No. 3 Iowa State, which will tip off its third straight tournament appearance as a near double-digit favorite.

Spread and total points scored betting line

The Cyclones opened as nine-point favorites; the total was 143.5. (Compare lines and consensus on the Odds Shark matchup report.)

Odds Shark computer pick

75-63.1 Iowa State

Why pick NC Central to cover the spread

North Carolina Central beat Morgan State to win the MEAC tournament title and clinch an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament.

The No. 14 Eagles' chances of pulling off an upset rest squarely on the shoulders of the nation’s 17th-leading scorer, Jeremy Ingram, who averages 20.6 points per game and scored 37 against Wichita State.

Can they make it 21 straight wins and bust up some brackets early?

Why pick Iowa State to cover the spread

Iowa State ended the season in impressive fashion, taking out Kansas State, Kansas and Baylor en route to the Big 12 tournament title and an automatic qualification.

The No. 3 Cyclones are 5-1 against the spread in their last six games as favorites thanks to great ball movement. They lead the nation in assists with 18.5 per game.

Their trend is also to cover spreads early in the tournament (5-2 ATS in openers).

Smart betting pick

Iowa State is on another level athletically and won’t have a problem scoring against the MEAC champs. The Cyclones are the NCAA’s sixth-highest-scoring team, averaging 82.9 points per game, and they should receive little to no resistance from the undersized Eagles, whose leading rebounder, Jay Copeland, stands at 6'7".

Iowa State wins straight up and covers the spread.

Power rankings

North Carolina Central Eagles: No. 46

Iowa State Cyclones: No. 90 (per Odds Shark power ranks)

March Madness betting trends

• Iowa State 5-1 ATS past six games as favorites
• Iowa State is 6-1 SU, 5-2 ATS in first-round games since 1996
• NC Central won 20 in a row SU, won MEAC championship

Note: All spread and betting line data powered by Odds Shark. Download the free Lines and Bet Tracker app in the Apple Store and on Google Play.

Senior forward Melvin Ejim has been fantastic for a surging Iowa State team during the 2013-14 season. He has been one of the most consistent players on offense, scoring at least 17 points in 14 of his 20 games played.

Well, he really upped the ante on Saturday against TCU.

Ejim posted 48 points against the Horned Frogs, completing a performance that earned him the Big 12 single-game scoring record. The Big 12 Conference's Twitter account posted his accomplishment immediately after the game's conclusion:

However, Ejim's record-breaking performance did not stop there. As noted in a tweet from TCU's beat writer Stefan Stevenson, Ejim's 20-made field goals also set a Big 12 single-game record:

Not only did Ejim make NCAA history on Saturday, but he was able to put together a performance that the NBA hasn't seen in quite some time, according to a tweet from Jeremy Lundblad of ESPN:

Ejim had this to say after the game, per Sporting News' Roger Kuznia:

"It was teamwork," Ejim said afterward. "These guys just did a great job finding me in transition and getting me the ball in places where I could score. They made really selfless plays. We were just giving up the ball and luckily, I was on the receiving end."

In case you missed his impressive showing on Saturday, ESPN's YouTube account compiled all of Ejim's highlights on the day:

Before the game, during an interview with GlobeGazette.com, Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg had this to say about Ejim's consistency, "That's been Melvin for four years now, he is just consistent. You know he is going to make the right play and be in the right spot."

Sure, Hoiberg expects big things from Ejim, but the coach could not have predicted this kind of performance on Saturday.

Ejim and Iowa State will take the court again on Monday at West Virginia, where the forward will look to continue to make his mark on college basketball.

Remember back in December when everyone was gushing about their love affair with the Iowa State Cyclones?

In case you forgot about that time period near the end of nonconference play, this is your friendly reminder that the Cyclones are hot and will be talked about from now until the end of the season, so you better pay attention to them, just like we told you to before Big 12 play began. 

Fred Hoiberg's team jumped back into the national spotlight on Monday night with a thrilling 98-97 win in triple overtime over Oklahoma State that saw "The Mayor" make a ballsy coaching decision and the star of the team, DeAndre Kane, make a vital hustle play at the end of the second overtime.

If Hoiberg did not insert Naz Long into the game for the final play of the second overtime period and Kane failed to outhustle everyone on the court to a rebound and then passed to Long at the top of the key, we would be gushing over how Oklahoma State turned a corner with a big overtime victory. 

In all honesty, whoever came out victorious on Monday night in Stillwater would have gained a ton of attention, and that was before the game turned into a three-overtime thriller. 

While the rest of the nation turned their attention to Kansas' Andrew Wiggins finally living up to the hype and Texas taking the conference by storm, Iowa State was rebounding from a brutal three-game losing streak that included losses to the Jayhawks and Longhorns. 

Now two weeks removed from their loss to Texas, who is much better than anyone would've thought it would be, the Cyclones have won three of their last four games, all against ranked opposition, and have a very favorable schedule in front of them.

Just how favorable is their schedule in the upcoming weeks? Well, first of all, they don't have to deal with Kansas anymore, as they lost to them twice already. 

After you get past that crucial factor, you will see that the Cyclones play their next three games against TCU, West Virginia and Texas Tech.

Barring a massive setback, which we have come to expect from top teams this season, the Cyclones could enter their home game with Texas on February 18 with an astronomical amount of momentum and a raucous crowd at behind them at Hilton Coliseum. 

Looking past the home showdown with Texas, four more favorable games appear on their docket with TCU and West Virginia again, followed by Kansas State and Baylor, a team that has brutally underachieved in Big 12 play. 

Then the final game of the season presents a rematch with Oklahoma State, who could be at the end of a free fall after its heartbreaking loss to Iowa State on the night where the Cowboys honored legendary coach Eddie Sutton. 

Losing a multiple-overtime game at this juncture of the season could have been a massive blow to the Cyclones' morale, and it almost guarantees them the mental edge over the Cowboys in the final regular-season game of the year in Ames. 

While there is plenty of time to think about what could have been if the Cyclones lost on Monday, the fans of the team would much rather look forward to see where this historic victory takes them as they continue to build their already fantastic resume before the NCAA men's basketball tournament begins. 

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90

Tell me if you've heard this one before...a highly touted, upstart team that caught fire in nonconference play enters a rough three-game stretch near the beginning of conference play.

In the team's first test, it wins in very easy fashion at home, a place where it will be six days after that hosting the perennial superpower of said conference.

In between those games, the team goes on the road and loses what us in the sports world like to call a "trap game."

If that scenario sounds eerily familiar, it is because we see this unravel across America every winter in college basketball. 

This season, the first team to fall into that scenario is the Iowa State Cyclones. 

Fred Hoiberg's team put together a spectacular run throughout nonconference play with wins over Michigan, BYU and Iowa, a win that looks better with every game the Hawkeyes play in the Big Ten. 

Heading into their star-studded Big 12 clash with Baylor on Tuesday, the Cyclones were still unbeaten and had survived their first so-called test.

However, just like countless teams in recent years, the Cyclones looked ahead to their showdown with Kansas on Monday and fell short in Norman on Saturday. 

The 87-82 loss to Oklahoma was the first loss of the season for the Cyclones, and it was exactly what the doctor ordered for Monday's potential beating of Kansas at Hilton Coliseum. 

I am not going to say that the Cyclones needed a reality check, and all that crap we usually say about a previously unbeaten team, because it simply isn't true. 

What did happen to Hoiberg's team is that it lost one of its best players, DeAndre Kane, at a crucial juncture in a very close game against what could potentially be a bubble team come March in the Oklahoma Sooners. 

No game on the road is an easy one in conference play, and the upstart Cyclones learned in Norman that they will have to fight and scrap for every single basket in what is proving to be a very contentious Big 12. 

That mentality will have to be taken to another level on Monday against Kansas, especially if Kane fails to contribute in the same fashion that he has all season. The senior guard averages 16.5 points per game, which is second best on the team. 

You could also say that the loss to the Sooners and the injury to Kane came at the perfect time in the season for the Cyclones. 

Monday night represents the single-most emotional night Hilton Coliseum has seen in the Hoiberg era as mighty Kansas comes walking into town looking for a signature road victory. 

Unlike past seasons, the Cyclones not only have a legitimate chance to win the game, but they also have a chance, with a victory, of claiming the label of regular-season title favorite. 

The home-court advantage in Ames must not be overlooked as the crowd will give an extra burst to some of the players who will need to step up in case Kane is not 100 percent. 

The likes of Melvin Ejim (18.5 PPG, 7.1 RPG) and Georges Niang (15.3 PPG, 3.5 APG) have contributed a ton to the early efforts of the Cyclones season, but if they can star on Monday night in front of the national audience, they will make the convincing argument that their team is here to stay, for good.

Another factor in the game will be how good the role players do against a very formidable opponent. So far this season, Dustin Hogue (12.3 PPG, 9.1 RPG) and Naz Long (8.4 PPG) have played well in their roles, and either of those players could be set for a breakout performance against the Jayhawks. 

There is no doubt that all of the Cyclone players will be ready to kick it up a notch and play their best game yet, and by losing to Oklahoma, they were able to get the nerves out of their system early so that they can enter their home court on Monday loose and firing on all cylinders.

The conference title may not be on the line on Monday night, but we will know for sure that an inspired Iowa State team will show up looking to quell any doubts about how it can handle the rigors of Big 12 play.

Without one of their stars at full strength, the Cyclones will have a chance to shine under the brightest lights in the game, and because of the loss to Oklahoma, they have all the motivation in the world to spring an upset of the Jayhawks and catapult themselves into the national discussion on a permanent basis. 

Follow me on Twitter, @JTansey90. 

AMES, IOWA—Fred Hoiberg walked into his locker room on Friday night before his team's rivalry game with No. 24 Iowa and he told his players he wished he was in uniform with them.

"I was jacked up," Hoiberg said.

Hours later, the magic (and the noise) was back at a standing-room-only Hilton Coliseum the way he had remembered it during his playing days.

The Cyclones struggled to find their rhythm for most the night. "I feel like we were stuck in the mud," Georges Niang said. They trailed by 10 late in the first half. They got beat on the boards by 14. And somehow Niang gave his team the lead on a busted play in the final minute.

But with 12 seconds left, Iowa point guard Mike Gesell went to the line with a chance to put his team back on top.

Gesell came into the game shooting 79.5 percent for his career at the line and 80 percent this year. Coach Fran McCaffery would say later that's who he wanted at the line.

Hilton roared. Gesell missed the first. Hilton roared even louder. And Gesell missed again.

Dustin Hogue rebounded the miss, made two free throws and Iowa had a chance to send the game to overtime.

Hoiberg told his players to foul. They apparently didn't listen, and Iowa's Zach McCabe, a 48.5 percent three-point shooter, got a wide-open look.

"I'm still shaking a little bit because I just expected that thing to go in," Hoiberg said. "I guess the fans were loud and the rim was a maybe shaking a little bit and it bounced out."

Iowa State 85, Iowa 82.

***

On Thursday afternoon, Iowa State legend Gary Thompson was trying to explain the phenomenon of "Hilton Magic."

Thompson is maybe the only man in Ames as revered as Hoiberg. He was the star on an Iowa State team back in the 1950s that gave Wilt Chamberlain his first loss at Kansas. 

The game that Thompson is talking about on this day happened nearly 22 years ago when Hoiberg was a freshman.

It was Feb. 15, 1992, and the Cyclones had trailed Oklahoma State by 18 that night in Ames. Those Cowboys had Bryant "Big Country" Reeves and they had run the Clones off the floor by 18 earlier in the year. Yet somehow Iowa State rallied to force overtime.

After trailing by seven in OT, Iowa State rallied to trim the lead to one, and Hoiberg cut to the basket and tied the game with a layup in traffic much like Niang on Friday night. Only Hoiberg was fouled in the process.

Steady back then just like he is now on the sidelines, Hoiberg made the free throw, and the Cyclones led by one with 8.9 seconds left and the building was going crazy.

But just like Friday night, the Cowboys would get one more chance.

Oklahoma State pushed the ball up the floor and guard Darwyn Alexander got fouled with 2.4 seconds left. 

Alexander, just like Gesell, entered that game as an 80 percent free-throw shooter. And Alexander, just like Gesell, missed the first free throw as Hilton roared. And Alexander, just like Gesell, missed the second free throw as Hilton roared louder and louder.

"I played in what I thought was the loudest this arena has ever been with Oklahoma State," Hoiberg said, remembering back to his freshman season. "That rivaled it out there when Gesell missed that first one.

"You could feel the vibrations in the arena again."

Hoiberg returned to Ames four years ago because he wanted to get the program back to where it was in the 1990s when Hilton Magic was feared by opponents. 

With transfers and some under-recruited guys like Niang, Hoiberg has made two straight NCAA tournaments. 

The Cyclones are 8-0 for the first time since the 1996-97 season. Students started camping out for Friday's game on Thursday in tents outside the arena. The low in Ames on Thursday was negative-one.

Last Saturday, Iowa State had to rally down 18 to Northern Iowa and win in overtime. 

"I told the guys in the locker room let's quit making a habit of that," Hoiberg said.

Why not, Coach? 

The Magic is back in Ames. Might as well let it run its course.

C.J. Moore covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @cjmoore4.

Coming into tonight's game, it had been 26 years since Iowa State and Iowa had faced off with both teams ranked in the top 25. 

After 40 minutes of back-and-forth basketball, the only lingering question is: Can we do it again?

The No. 17 ranked Cyclones (8-0, 0-0 Big 12) stormed back from a seven point halftime deficit to stun the No. 23 Hawkeyes (10-2, 0-0 Big Ten) 85-82 Friday night at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames.

It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't easy, but Fred Hoiberg's bunch showed tremendous toughness and mettle to claw out a tough victory against a bitter instate rival.

Iowa State was led by sophomore forward Georges Niang—who was forced to sit early in the second half with foul trouble—with a career-high 24 points, which included several clutch shots down the stretch. 

Melvin Ejim added 22 points for the Cyclones, and Dustin Hogue added 12 points along with 16 rebounds.

For Iowa, the defeat will be a bitter pill to swallow. They led for most of the game and were able to stem a seemingly endless string of Iowa State runs in the second half. But the one they couldn't stop—Iowa State ended the game on an eight to nothing run—ultimately proved to be their undoing.

The Hawkeyes got their customary production from what is quite possibly the deepest roster in the nation. But the star was junior forward Aaron White—who largely carried the team on his back—with 25 points and 17 rebounds.

Both teams will have plenty of time to recover from Friday's slugfest.

Iowa State doesn't return to the court until Dec. 22 when they host George Mason. Iowa will also be in action that night, when they host Arkansas-Pine Bluff.