Cyclones hope to show off depth on Friday

AMES - Georges Niang has heard it over and over again. 'Play until you're exhausted,” Coach Fred Hoiberg preaches.

And, for perhaps the first time in the Hoiberg era at Iowa State, players will be able to truly take that to heart.

It's been no secret the Cyclones have perhaps the most roster depth since Hoiberg took over in 2010, and that depth will finally have chance to take the floor when Iowa State takes on Viterbo on Friday at 7 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum.

Hoiberg said the pace his team has been practicing at is as exciting as anything he's seen from his squad thus far.

'Last week in practice we took it to a whole different level the way the guys got the ball up and down the floor,” Hoiberg said. 'It tells you two things when you score the ball like we have been at this point in the season: Your offense is either really good or your transition defense really sucks. Right now I think it's a little bit of a combination of both.”

With the added depth, Iowa State likely will be able to have any combination of players able to push the ball up the court in transition, which is something that hasn't been the case in years past. Niang, who dropped 25 pounds in the off-season, said this team is faster than any team he has played on so far.

Niang could see as many as 10 or 11 players getting time in the meat of the schedule, with no drop in production.

'We just offer a different dynamic where we can get different guys in different positions,” Niang said. 'And we're so athletic with Abdel (Nader), Jameel (McKay) and Bryce (Dejean-Jones) especially. I think we just offer a different dynamic for this team whether it's getting out and pressuring other teams or running on other teams.”

Iowa State will be without Nader and sophomore Matt Thomas for the exhibition and first two regular season games because of suspensions for violations of team rules. McKay won't be eligible until Dec. 20 because of NCAA transfer policy. Those absences will give other players a chance to earn minutes early on this season.

'Right now with the lineup the way it is, with Dustin (Hogue) playing one of the bigs, he's really getting up and down the floor,” Hoiberg said. 'Georges is running much better than he was a year ago (and) our wings are getting out and running. When you put fresh bodies out there, hopefully that running stays the way it needs to be if you want to be a good transition team for the entire 40 minutes.”

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