The 10th game might as well be the first.
This isn’t where the Iowa State men’s basketball team expected to be as finals ended. It’s a spot you don’t believe the No. 5 team will be in.
Yet, here the Cyclones are. Starting guard Naz Mitrou-Long will miss the rest of the season. His hips aren’t ready to take the season-long grind after off-season surgery.
A game that was supposed to be the unveiling of Marquette transfer Deonte Burton is something else.
This will be ISU’s first step in figuring out what it will take to win the rest of the way.