McGee talks a big game, and backs it up

AMES - From the bench, Iowa State super-sub Tyrus McGee shouts words of encouragement.

On the court, the 6-2 bundle of energy seeks to rattle adversaries with terms of disparagement - all in good fun and all for a good cause.

Winning.

“I try to be funny when I'm out there,” McGee said of his purposeful trash talk. “I don't try to be mean, unless they try to get mean to me. You know how that goes.”

McGee and the Cyclones (13-5, 3-2) go to Lubbock, Texas Saturday for a 4 p.m. Big 12 game against teetering Texas Tech (7-11, 0-5).

ISU coach Fred Hoiberg cautions anyone looking at the Red Raiders' winless start to to delve deeper into the box scores.

A different picture emerges - one of a team that's undoubtedly struggling, but often good enough to stay competitive for all or most of the game.

“They've been in most games they've played, especially early,” Hoiberg said. “They had a lead against Kansas about 15 minutes into that one. They've been in it. They've lost a few single digit games, so I expect them to come out with a bunch of energy and we have to match them.”

That's where McGee comes in.

The junior college transfer cobbled together his best all-around game as a Cyclone - 17 points and nine rebounds - in Wednesday's 71-68 buzzer-beating win over Oklahoma State at Hilton Coliseum.

The Stringtown, Okla., native forced a turnover from the Cowboys' Markel Brown with 4.8 seconds left, making Scott Christopherson's game-winning bank shot from 25 feet possible.

His well-timed poke didn't mark the stat sheet as a steal, but it did cause a turnover as Brown lost the ball of his leg out of bounds.

“That's what I love most about Tyrus is he's not afraid,” Hoiberg said. “He went out there (Wednesday) with a mentality - and I knew he was going to play well. That's a team that a lot of his friends back home grew up watching, Oklahoma State. (They) were tuned into that one. So I knew he was going to come out and play with great effort, which we always does.”

It didn't hurt that an old nemesis is the Cowboys' headliner, either.

“Keiton Page, he's kind of a kryptonite to me,” McGee said. “I played him all the way through high school, so we had to give him that loss.”

Page scored 21 against ISU.

That's nothing.

“He dropped 55 against us,” McGee said of a high school matchup. “But he still lost, though.”

Speaking of high school, McGee said he graduated among a class numbering 21.

That didn't stop Stringtown from becoming a basketball powerhouse, winning Oklahoma Class B state titles in 2006 and 2007, when McGee was a freshman and sophomore.

“There was nothing to do besides play basketball,” said McGee, who's averaging 8.8 points and shooting 44.8 percent from 3-point range. “So that's all we ever did. We'd call each other up. We'd wait until everyone gets off work - the older guys - and we'd just go play ball.”

Now he not only scores, but talks.

With plenty of back-up.

“No matter where you're at, you can always hear him talking somewhere,” said Cyclone shooting guard Chris Babb. “But in all seriousness, he's a great asset to our team in that aspect - his communication level and his leadership on the bench. He keeps the bench involved.”