Hlas column: Cyclones' revolving door stops long enough for a nice win - with videos

AMES - A game won, a transfer of note gained.

All in all, a pretty good Wednesday for Iowa State men's basketball.

The fans of Hilton Coliseum said goodbye to the 2010-11 Cyclones, and got paid off for their attendance by watching their team win a 95-90 horserace over the Colorado Buffaloes in ISU's last scheduled home game of the season.

The crowd of 10.679 knew this team, which has beaten NCAA bubble teams Nebraska and Colorado in succession after 10 straight Big 12 losses, won't look much like next year's Cyclones. Other than the style of play, which is giddy-up.

Some beyond Story County think Hoiberg is running a home for wayward young men. Some inside Ames' city limits thinks he's giving second-chances to some people who have made mistakes that weren't fatal.

What can't be argued is Hoiberg isn't waiting to restore ISU basketball as a winning program. That was reinforced with Wednesday's news that guard Korie Lucious is transferring to Iowa State from Michigan State, to play his senior season here in 2012-13.

Lucious made one of the big shots of last year's NCAA tournament, a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that sent the Spartans to an 85-83 second-round win over Maryland. Several months later, he was found guilty of misdemeanor reckless driving, which got him suspended from Tom Izzo's Spartans for a game. In late January, Izzo suspended him for the rest of the season for unspecified reasons.

Hello, Iowa State.

“Korie is an accomplished point guard with valuable experience playing at the highest level,” Hoiberg said. “He is a point guard that can run a team, make plays and score in both transition and in the half-court. Korie will fit in great in our up-tempo style and we are excited to have him join our program.”

Though they won't play together here, Lucious rejoins Chris Allen, a former Michigan State guard who will play his senior season here next season. As will junior-to-be guard Chris Babb, formerly of Penn State.

Junior-to-be forward Anthony Booker (Southern Illinois) and sophomore-to-be Royce White (Minnesota) will resume their careers here in October, too.

White had misdemeanor theft, disorderly conduct and trespassing charges in Minnesota. Allen was dismissed by Izzo after a series of unspecified issues. The coach said the player “needed to be a better teammate.” Izzo also added Allen is “a good kid, and will be a great player and a pro prospect.”

Booker and Babb just wanted to play somewhere else.

But Wednesday was about the outgoing, not the incoming. Seniors Diante Garrett, Jamie Vanderbeken and Jake Anderson all had fond farewells in Hilton - unless Iowa State hosts a game or games in the College Basketball Invitational or CollegeInsider.com Tournament, neither of which have ever featured a team from the Big 12.

The Cyclones totally surrendered 12-point leads in both halves, but built another advantage of nine points with 2:54 left and hung on. The three seniors had 16, 16 and 15 points. Nice.

But the revelation was freshman power forward Calvin Godfrey, whose career-high entering the game was 13 points. The 6-foot-8, 230-pound Minnesotan had his own suspension to live with in early February, a 3-gamer for the infamous “unspecified team violations.”

Godfrey played like a grown-up Wednesday, with a real presence in the paint (11 rebounds) and an ability to finish moves after getting sweet set-up passes from Garrett and junior Scott Christopherson, who combined for 13 assists.

Godfrey had 23 points in 23 minutes. He was 10-of-11 from the field. “Huge numbers,” said Hoiberg.

All those redshirting Cyclone transfers who watched this game in gray sweatsuits can mark Godfrey's name in red for next year's revamped rotation.

Godfrey will be a junior when Lucious is eligible to wear the cardinal-and-gold. Who knows what the ISU lineup will look like by then?

But if the Cyclones play with the hops and the fire they showed Wednesday late in a long, trying season, there could be better postseason possibilities than the CBI and CIT before long.

Here are two videos: The first one ... wait for it. Anderson gives an Anderson-like gesture to the crowd as he walks off the floor. He's emotional. The second is more stoic, it being Hoiberg discussing the game.