Before the ISU men’s basketball team

made the trip to South Padre Island, Texas for the South Padre

Invitational, much was made of the team’s defensive

woes.

Games on the road against Drake and

at home against Northern Colorado exposed the Cyclones (5-1)

defensively and left coach Fred Hoiberg wanting much more out of

his squad. It appears he got more during the trip.

“We were much better on the

defensive end in [South] Padre,” Hoiberg said. “We had a couple

great practices leading into that [trip], and it carried over. Our

guys, they took pride in [defense] much more in those two games

down there.”

Post-South Padre, however, Hoiberg

is cautiously optimistic. While they improved during the two-game

stretch, the Cyclones still have only played a handful of games as

a team.

The work, Hoiberg said, is still to

be done.

“This group still has a ways to go,”

Hoiberg said. “They’ve played six basketball games together, and it

takes time. We did take a big step in the right direction this last

week, especially on the defensive end.”

The fact that they have work to do

is not lost on the players. Senior guard Scott Christopherson said

on Monday that he, too, liked what he saw in the games against

Providence (a 64-54 win) and Rice (a 90-63 win).

But he has a measured

optimism.

“Going down to South Padre, I

definitely think we played better defensively and rebounded the

ball better, which is probably the area we need to make the most

improvement in,” Christopherson said. “I think we saw [in South

Padre], if we’re getting stops, how good we can be, but at the same

time I don’t think it’s a situation where we should be too

satisfied with ourselves. … We still have a lot of work to

do.”

Along with the improved defensive

effort, Iowa State showed a hot streak from beyond the arc in the

two games. From 3-point range, the Cyclones shot 36.7 percent

against Providence and 48.3 percent against Rice.

Individually, the Cyclones were led

in the two games by guards Chris Allen, Chris Babb and Tyrus McGee.

Babb was even named Big 12 Rookie of the Week on Monday.

Allen said Monday that another thing

that improved in South Padre was the team communication. No one was

able to get down on themselves, he said, because teammates were

there to help one another. Both he and Hoiberg said McGee is the

most vocal in the huddle and on the floor.

“I call him Hustle Man,” Allen said

of McGee. “He’s instant energy, no matter what. He’s guaranteed to

knock down two or three treys, he’s going to play defense, he’s

going to rebound, he’s going to run, he’s going to talk

crap.

“He’s that guy right now. He’s that

spark off the bench.”

Hoiberg said he thought McGee was

asserting himself as one of the vocal leaders of the team. He

agreed with a question asking if he thought McGee was the perfect

sixth man for this team.

“He is [the perfect sixth man],”

Hoiberg said. “You want that guy, that first guy coming off your

bench — if you’re having a slow night or a slow start — you need

that guy to come in and just inject energy and adrenaline into the

team, and that’s what Tyrus does.”

With Allen, Babb and McGee showing

their offensive skills while forward Royce White was held to small

point totals during the trip, Allen said he cannot wait for the day

when they all get hot at the same time.

It is a day he said will be a

nightmare for opposing coaches.

“We’ve got a lot, a lot of weapons

on our team,” Allen said. “At any given time any guy on the court

could have a mismatch. … It’s just scary, honestly, because the

day that all of us are on the same page, it’s going to be

crazy.”