2015–16 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team

2015–16 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball
2015–16 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball
Emerald Coast Classic champions
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 22
Record	23–12 (10–8 Big 12)
Head coach	Steve Prohm (1st season);
Assistant coaches	T. J. Otzelberger; Daniyal Robinson; William Small;
Home arena	Hilton Coliseum
	Seasons ← 2014–15 2016–17 →

The 2015–16 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team represented Iowa State University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cyclones were coached by Steve Prohm, who was in his 1st season. They played their home games at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa and competed in the Big 12 Conference.

2015–16 Big 12 men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 Kansas †	15	–	3	.833	33	–	5	.868
No. 8 West Virginia	13	–	5	.722	26	–	9	.743
No. 7 Oklahoma	12	–	6	.667	29	–	8	.784
Texas	11	–	7	.611	20	–	13	.606
No. 21 Baylor	10	–	8	.556	22	–	12	.647
No. 22 Iowa State	10	–	8	.556	23	–	12	.657
Texas Tech	9	–	9	.500	19	–	13	.594
Kansas State	5	–	13	.278	17	–	16	.515
Oklahoma State	3	–	15	.167	12	–	20	.375
TCU	2	–	16	.111	12	–	21	.364

† 2016 Big 12 Tournament winner Rankings from AP poll ^[1]

They finished the season 23–12 10–8 in Big 12 play to finish tied for 5th place. They lost to Oklahoma in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Iona and Little Rock to advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to Virginia.

Previous season

Iowa State finished the season 25–9, 12–6 in Big 12 play to finish in second place. They defeated Texas,^[2] Oklahoma,^[3] and Kansas to become champions of the Big 12 Conference tournament to earn and automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.^[4] In the NCAA Tournament they were upset by UAB in the second round.^[5]

After months of speculation, it was announced on June 2, 2015, that Fred Hoiberg would be accepting the head coach position with the Chicago Bulls of the NBA.^[6]

On June 8, 2015, it was announced that Iowa State would be hiring Murray State head coach Steve Prohm for the same position.^[7]

Offseason departures

Offseason Departures
Name	Position	Reason
Bryce Dejean-Jones	Guard	Graduated
Dustin Hogue	Forward	Graduated
Daniel Edozie	Forward	Graduated
Sherron Dorsey-Walker	Guard	Transferred to Oakland
Kourtlin Jackson	Guard	Transferred to Southern Miss
Clayton Custer	Guard	Transferred to Loyola Chicago
Daniel Stensland	Guard	Left basketball team
Georgios Tsalmpouris	Center	Left to play professionally in the Greek Basketball League
Reference:^[8]

Recruiting

Prep recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Nick Noskowiak PG	Sun Prairie, Wisconsin	Sun Prairie	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Apr 26, 2015
Nick Noskowiak PG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 84
Brady Ernst PF	Clinton, Iowa	Clinton	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jun 25, 2015
Brady Ernst PF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Simeon Carter PF	Charlotte, North Carolina	West Charlotte	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Aug 6, 2015
Simeon Carter PF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings: 247Sports: 75
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Iowa State 2015 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 8, 2017. "2015 Iowa State Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved February 8, 2017. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 8, 2017. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved February 8, 2017. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 8, 2017.

Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers
Name	Position	Hometown	Previous School	Remaining Eligibility	Notes
Jordan Ashton	Guard	Mount Pleasant, Iowa	Kirkwood CC	2	Ashton was eligible to play immediately.
Nick Weiler-Babb	Guard	Arlington, Texas	Arkansas	3	Weiler-Babb sat out the 2015–16 season due to NCAA eligibility rules.
Reference:^[9]

Roster

2015–16 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	00	Simeon Carter	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	West Charlotte	Charlotte, North Carolina
C	1	Jameel McKay	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	RS Sr	Pulaski Indian Hills CC Marquette	Milwaukee
F	2	Abdel Nader	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	RS Sr	Niles North Northern Illinois	Skokie, Illinois
G	3	Hallice Cooke	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	RS So	St. Anthony Oregon State	Union City, New Jersey
G	4	Wesley Greder (W)	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Gilbert High School	Gilbert, Iowa
G	11	Monté Morris	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Beecher	Flint, Michigan
G	14	Nick Weiler-Babb	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	RS So	James Martin Arkansas	Arlington, Texas
G	15	Naz Long (C)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Findlay Prep	Mississauga, Ontario
G	21	Matt Thomas	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	197 lb (89 kg)	Jr	Onalaska	Onalaska, Wisconsin
G	23	Jordan Ashton	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	RS Jr	Mount Pleasant Northwest Missouri State Kirkwood CC	Mount Pleasant, Iowa
C	24	Stuart Nezlek (W)	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Jr	Fenwick	Oak Park, Illinois
G	30	Deonte Burton	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	RS Jr	Vincent Marquette	Milwaukee
F	31	Georges Niang (C)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Sr	Tilton School	Methuen, Massachusetts
PF	33	Brady Ernst	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	RS Fr	Clinton	Clinton, Iowa

Head coach

Steve Prohm (Iowa State)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 6, 2015* 7:00 pm, Cyclones.tv	No. 7	Grand Valley State	W 106–60		20 – Mitrou-Long	11 – McKay	8 – Thomas	Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, Iowa
Regular season
November 13, 2015* 4:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 7	vs. Colorado	W 68–62	1–0	17 – Niang	10 – McKay	4 – Morris	Sanford Pentagon (3,200) Sioux Falls, South Dakota
November 16, 2015* 7:00 pm, Cyclones.tv	No. 7	Chicago State Emerald Coast Classic	W 106–64	2–0	25 – McKay	11 – Tied	8 – Tied	Hilton Coliseum (14,111) Ames, Iowa
November 23, 2015* 7:00 pm, Cyclones.tv	No. 4	Chattanooga Emerald Coast Classic	W 83–63	3–0	24 – Mitrou-Long	17 – McKay	10 – Morris	Hilton Coliseum (13,305) Ames, Iowa
November 27, 2015* 6:00 pm, CBSSN	No. 4	vs. Virginia Tech Emerald Coast Classic Semifinals	W 99–77	4–0	23 – McKay	11 – Nader	7 – Morris	The Arena (2,222) Niceville, Florida
November 28, 2015* 6:00 pm, CBSSN	No. 4	vs. Illinois Emerald Coast Classic Championship	W 84–73	5–0	23 – Niang	9 – Morris	6 – Morris	The Arena (2,222) Niceville, Florida
December 1, 2015* 7:00 pm, Cyclones.tv	No. 5	North Dakota State	W 84–64	6–0	21 – Nader	19 – McKay	6 – Morris	Hilton Coliseum (14,272) Ames, Iowa
December 7, 2015* 8:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 4	Buffalo	W 84–63	7–0	31 – Niang	12 – Niang	10 – Morris	Hilton Coliseum (14,130) Ames, Iowa
December 11, 2015* 6:30 pm, ESPN2	No. 4	Iowa Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series	W 83–82	8–0	20 – Tied	12 – McKay	9 – Morris	Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, Iowa
December 13, 2015* 5:00 pm, Cyclones.tv	No. 4	Arkansas–Pine Bluff	W 78–64	9–0	18 – McKay	8 – McKay	11 – Morris	Hilton Coliseum (14,284) Ames, Iowa
December 19, 2015* 6:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 5	vs. Northern Iowa Big Four Classic	L 79–81	9–1	30 – Niang	7 – Nader	6 – Morris	Wells Fargo Arena Des Moines, Iowa
December 22, 2015* 6:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 11	at No. 22 Cincinnati	W 81–79	10–1	24 – Niang	10 – Niang	7 – Morris	Fifth Third Arena (13,176) Cincinnati
December 30, 2015* 7:00 pm, Cyclones.tv	No. 11	Coppin State	W 104–84	11–1	21 – Nader	9 – Niang	11 – Morris	Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, Iowa
January 2, 2016 6:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 11	at No. 3 Oklahoma	L 83–87	11–2 (0–1)	29 – Niang	9 – McKay	3 – Morris	Lloyd Noble Center (11,251) Norman, Oklahoma
January 6, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 13	Texas Tech	W 76–69	12–2 (1–1)	19 – McKay	14 – McKay	6 – Morris	Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, Iowa
January 9, 2016 2:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 13	Baylor	L 89–94	12–3 (1–2)	22 – Niang	8 – Nader	6 – Niang	Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, Iowa
January 12, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 17	at Texas	L 91–94 ^OT	12–4 (1–3)	27 – Niang	16 – Nader	7 – Morris	Frank Erwin Center (10,663) Austin, Texas
January 16, 2016 3:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 17	at Kansas State	W 76–63	13–4 (2–3)	19 – Morris	6 – 3 tied	4 – Morris	Bramlage Coliseum (12,462) Manhattan, Kansas
January 18, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPN	No. 19	No. 1 Oklahoma	W 82–77	14–4 (3–3)	22 – Niang	13 – McKay	3 – Tied	Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, Iowa
January 23, 2016 3:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 19	at TCU	W 73–60	15–4 (4–3)	18 – Morris	10 – McKay	6 – Morris	Schollmaier Arena (6,014) Fort Worth, Texas
January 25, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPN	No. 14	No. 4 Kansas	W 85–72	16–4 (5–3)	21 – Morris	5 – Tied	9 – Morris	Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, Iowa
January 30, 2016* 1:00 pm, ESPN	No. 14	at No. 5 Texas A&M Big 12/SEC Challenge	L 62–72	16–5	15 – Niang	14 – McKay	6 – Morris	Reed Arena (12,473) College Station, Texas
February 2, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 13	No. 14 West Virginia	L 76–81	16–6 (5–4)	20 – Niang	6 – Burton	10 – Morris	Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, Iowa
February 6, 2016 1:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 13	at Oklahoma State	W 64–59	17–6 (6–4)	18 – Niang	9 – Niang	8 – Morris	Gallagher-Iba Arena (6,561) Stillwater, Oklahoma
February 10, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 14	at Texas Tech	L 82–85 ^OT	17–7 (6–5)	20 – Burton	9 – Niang	9 – Morris	United Supermarkets Arena (6,715) Lubbock, Texas
February 13, 2016 7:30 pm, ESPN	No. 14	No. 24 Texas	W 85–75	18–7 (7–5)	24 – Morris	8 – Nader	3 – Tied	Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, Iowa
February 16, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 13	at No. 25 Baylor	L 91–100 ^OT	18–8 (7–6)	26 – Niang	8 – Niang	11 – Morris	Ferrell Center (5,556) Waco, Texas
February 20, 2016 6:30 pm, ESPNU	No. 13	TCU	W 92–83	19–8 (8–6)	27 – Niang	14 – Burton	11 – Morris	Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, Iowa
February 22, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPN	No. 17	at No. 14 West Virginia	L 87–97	19–9 (8–7)	23 – Nader	5 – Tied	5 – Niang	WVU Coliseum (10,683) Morgantown, West Virginia
February 27, 2016 5:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 17	Kansas State	W 80–61	20–9 (9–7)	20 – Thomas	17 – McKay	8 – Morris	Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, Iowa
February 29, 2016 6:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 21	Oklahoma State	W 58–50	21–9 (10–7)	19 – Nader	10 – Tied	6 – Morris	Hilton Coliseum (14,383) Ames, Iowa
March 5, 2016 3:00 pm, ESPN	No. 21	at No. 1 Kansas	L 78–85	21–10 (10–8)	22 – Niang	9 – McKay	5 – Niang	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas
Big 12 Tournament
03/10/2016 8:00 pm, ESPNU	(6) No. 21	vs. (3) No. 6 Oklahoma Quarterfinals	L 76–79	21–11	31 – Niang	9 – Tied	5 – Niang	Sprint Center (18,972) Kansas City, Missouri
NCAA Tournament
03/17/2016* 1:00 pm, TBS	(4 MW) No. 22	vs. (13 MW) Iona First round	W 94–81	22–11	28 – Niang	9 – McKay	8 – Morris	Pepsi Center (19,499) Denver, Colorado
03/19/2016* 5:10 pm, TBS	(4 MW) No. 22	vs. (12 MW) Little Rock Second round	W 78–61	23–11	28 – Niang	10 – McKay	4 – Tied	Pepsi Center (19,551) Denver, Colorado
03/25/2016* 6:10 pm, CBS	(4 MW) No. 22	vs. (1 MW) No. 4 Virginia Sweet Sixteen	L 71–84	23–12	30 – Niang	8 – Niang	8 – Morris	United Center (21,490) Chicago
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.