Iowa State’s regular season opens Friday and gives Hilton Coliseum a second helping of men’s basketball Sunday, as the Cyclones take on Northern Arizona on Friday and Alabama State on Sunday afternoon.

After one dominating exhibition effort over the University of Dubuque that finished 100-50 in Iowa State’s favor, Nov. 5 the Lumberjacks of NAU come to Ames to tip off the games that will actually go in the win and loss columns.

“We felt that the Dubuque game was a regular season game for us, even though it was only exhibition, so it’ll be good to see Hilton back in all its glory,” said senior forward Jamie Vanderbeken. “It’s good to be back.”

Fred Hoiberg coached his first game on the Cyclone bench against Dubuque and came out to an emotional ovation. The Ames native expects things to be a little less nerve-wracking in his second college game, even if it is the first one that really matters.

“It was good to get that first one out of the way,” Hoiberg said. “I was very nervous walking through the tunnel the other night. This time I’ll have a suit on, and this one will be different. It’s for real now.”

Seven out of the 10 Cyclones on the active roster for this season are newcomers to the program. Among them are four true freshmen, and all got to experience time on the court against Dubuque, under the bright lights and with fans in the seats.

Freshman forward Calvin Godfrey collected a double-double in his very first contest as a Cyclone, including seven offensive rebounds, and expects things to settle down in the regular season.

“I take every game as a new game, and you can’t really expect the same thing from everybody,” Godfrey said. “There’s always going to be excitement, so I’m not as much nervous as excited.”

The competition to open the season doesn’t seem too strenuous by tradition, as Northern Arizona and Alabama State have combined for five NCAA Tournament appearances all-time, but Iowa State has never played NAU, and Alabama State was in the NCAA tournament in 2009.

Northern Arizona has lost nine straight season openers, but beat Western New Mexico 96-86 in its exhibition game last week.

The Lumberjacks took a five-game tour of Canada in August to boost their team chemistry and to get practice for this season. Hoiberg expects the team, picked by the coaches to finish second in the Big Sky Conference, to be ready to compete.

“It’s a very good team and they’re an older team,” Hoiberg said. “Their trip to Canada got them 10 extra practices, which puts them a little ahead right now. They run a lot of sets and a lot of plays, and they really execute. We’ve got our hands full.”

The step up in competition is welcome for some Cyclones, as the team is just ready to play competitive basketball and get the five-month-long season going.

“Northern Arizona has got some actual bigs, so we’re excited to play better,” Vanderbeken said. “I prefer playing against actual bigs than chasing the little post players around.”

Iowa State is 83-20 all-time in season openers and hasn’t lost one since 1997. The Cyclones will likely have nine available players this weekend, as forward Royce White was denied eligibility by the NCAA on Monday and guard DeMarcus Phillips is recovering from a broken hand.

Phillips will be dressed and could be available to make his ISU debut if necessary.

“He will be in uniform,” Hoiberg said. “I’d like for him to get a few more practices, but I’m really happy with him being at least in uniform and available if we need him.”

Both games this weekend appear as part of the Global Sports Hy-Vee Challenge, a round-robin format of games between Iowa State, Northern Arizona, Alabama State, Kennesaw State and Creighton. The Cyclones will take on Creighton Nov. 21, and Kennesaw State on Nov. 24.