The Mayor has finally returned to Ames.

ISU coach Fred Hoiberg was back on the sidelines of the cardinal and gold, in his first game at Hilton Coliseum and the men’s basketball team’s opening exhibition game.

The Cyclones took on the University of Dubuque, and gave fans a chance to see the high-paced basketball they expect to play all season. The Division III Spartans never led, as Iowa State opened their year with a 100-50 win Friday night.

“It was a great effort by our guys. You could tell they were pumped up from the moment they walked into shootaround today,” Hoiberg said.  “The guys really did a great job early setting the tone, getting out and running the floor which is really what we’ve been working on and stressing.”

On a team full of youngsters and new faces, seven Cyclones finished the game scoring in double figures. Junior Scott Christopherson led all scorers with 18, and Northern Illinois transfer Jake Anderson had 17 points.

“I just wanted to be in the flow with these guys, we’ve been going at it since June,” Anderson said. “It was a great feeling, I’m just trying to seize every moment.”

Hilton Coliseum hosted just its second basketball game and first men’s game since summer flooding ruined the court and most of the lower levels of the arena. The historic arena was kind to the legendary Hoiberg in his coaching debut, even though the teams were working out of under-construction locker rooms.

“It was great,” Hoiberg said. “I haven’t slept much the last two days, I was very nervous. It was very emotional coming out here. It was awesome, walking out of the tunnel for the first time. Glad I got it out of the way.”

Iowa State opened up an early lead, opening the game up by as much as 38 points in the first half. The halftime lead was 57-19 on the vertically-challenged Spartans, a team with no players above 6-foot-6.

The Cyclones outrebounded UD 57-33, but shared in the sloppy pace of the game, with both teams combining for 43 turnovers. The turnovers were alleviated by the fact that Iowa State had 13 more assists than the Spartans.

“We played very unselfish, and that’s something I’ve been stressing to these guys, not to pound the air out of the ball, get that thing flying around the horn and make the right play,” Hoiberg said.

Iowa State last lost in an exhibition game in 2005, to the semi-professional EA Sports traveling team. The Cyclones hit triple digits on the scoreboard for the first time since last year’s exhibition game, as a Greg McDermott-coached team put up 106 points on UNC-Pembroke.

“We wanted to go out there and show them that we’re going to play an exciting style of basketball, getting up and down the floor,” Hoiberg said.

“That’s what they want to see, and I thought they executed very well.”