Hilton Coliseum opened for basketball Thursday night, but will be hosting its first night of above the rim action as the men’s basketball team plays their lone preseason exhibition game against the University of Dubuque at 7 p.m. Friday.

Cyclone fans will get their first taste of the Fred Hoiberg era, as the former star player will lead his group from the bench against Dubuque, a small private school of around 1,600 students in northeast Iowa. The regular season begins Nov. 12, but there will be plenty of small, quick basketball on the floor Friday, just like Hoiberg predicted when he took the coaching job this spring.

“I’m excited about [Friday], and to get these guys out in front of the fans, and let them see what a real atmosphere in college is like,” Hoiberg said. “For a lot of them, this will be their first opportunity to do this. We’ll have five guys out there, getting their first experience in front of fans, in a college atmosphere.”

Iowa State is expected to only have eight players ready for action Friday, with true freshmen having to pick up a large bulk of minutes. The most experienced players will start the game, along with true freshman Melvin Ejim, but the rest of the bench will all be seeing the first action at Hilton Coliseum.

“Me, Jamie and Scott, we’ve been here the longest, we’ve played there the longest, so we’re ready right now,” said senior point guard Diante Garrett. “We’ve got new chairs, new floor and everything. It looks good.”

Garrett is expected to be a catalyst on this years team, as the longest-tenured Cyclone, as well as the leading returning scorer. He and his teammates got their first look at Hilton Coliseum in a shootaround Wednesday, and the senior from Milwaukee, Wis. is ready to see what the team can do.

Well, the team and its high-profile coach.

“It’s going to be exciting for the fans and us, to have “The Mayor” back, and have him as our head coach,” Garrett said. “He knows the game inside and out, and he’s going to be teaching us all sorts of things, and we’ll be learning tomorrow.”

Being an exhibition game, Hoiberg isn’t expected to roll out all the stops to ensure the young squad grinds out a victory, but having already played a scrimmage against Bradley University last week, the first-time coach wants to use it as a building process for the regular season.

“Even though we are undermanned, the guys we have, I’m excited about what they bring to the table,” Hoiberg said. “The thing I like about exhibition, is you get your guys out in front of the fans. They get to see what they’ll experience on a nightly basis once they start playing for real.”

All the youth and lack of numbers on the team currently means the Cyclones will have to get healthy and learn about other teammates’ game tendencies in a hurry. With the regular season just a week away, Iowa State’s freshmen and will have to adjust to the lights and Cyclone crowd in a big hurry.

Even when this roster hits full health and is complete, there are only 10 players expected to be dressed out and able to play, and only three of that group have experience as ISU players.

“I definitely felt that I would be able to come help out, but not as much as they’re going to need me this year,” Ejim said. “I’m definitely excited for the challenge and I’m ready to get started.”

Forward Royce White’s eligibility status from the NCAA is still undecided, although Hoiberg said the team expected some response in the next few days. Without White, the Cyclones only have four eligible players above 6-foot-6-inch.

The Dubuque Spartans are an NCAA Division III team, and have no players on the listed roster above 6-foot-6-inch, but have 10 Iowans on their 23-man roster.

Iowa State played Dubuque in 2007 at Hilton Coliseum, and won 66-38, and had a 40-17 halftime lead. The leading scorers for the Cyclones in the exhibition game were Rahshon Clark, Wesley Johnson, and Craig Brackins.