AMES, Iowa – After sitting with T.J. McConnell courtside at McKale Center to watch fellow Indiana Pacers teammate Bennedict Mathurin enter the UA Ring of Honor, Tyrese Haliburton might have figured they owed him one.
But when Haliburton showed up at Hilton Coliseum to be honored for winning an Olympic Gold Medal with USA Basketball last summer, he said McConnell was supposed to come along before family conflicts arose and Mathurin wasn’t on hand, either.
The three still had a bond to the game whether they wanted to or not: Arizona was entering Hilton for the first time as a Big 12 member, which meant the three were obligated to have something riding on it.
“In the NBA, there’s like an unwritten rule that if your colleges play each other, you have $100 on it,” Haliburton said during a press conference before the game. “So I have $100, right?"
In Haliburton’s case, it’s a double down of sorts: Both McConnell and Mathurin played for the Wildcats so, while appearing to refer to UA’s Jan. 27 win over the Cyclones, Haliburton noted that Mathurin “says I owe him $100, too, so I’ll get to it when I do.”
Surprise banner
Saying he realized midway through his sophomore season of 2019-20 that he would probably leave for the NBA, Haliburton said he remembered watching Iowa State’s Senior ceremonies later that season and regretted that he wouldn’t have a shot at getting a banner with his name inside Hilton Coliseum.
“The idea of having my name anywhere in the building, I kind of gave that up,” Haliburton said.
But that changed when Iowa State invited Haliburton back on Saturday and unfurled a banner honoring him for winning an Olympic gold medal last summer with USA Basketball.
“It’s a blessing and I’m really excited about it,” Haliburton said. “This place means the world to me. I love Ames and I love Iowa State. So the fact that I’m going to have something with my name on it in this building, I can’t express any words.”
Kerr’s perspective
Another former Arizona standout gave Haliburton something to sink in when USA Basketball began assembling its roster for the Paris Olympics: Steve Kerr, the Warriors and Team USA coach.
“I don’t remember verbatim what he said, but he was like `Half of the guys if they retired today, would be in the Hall of Fame, and the other half will be,’" Haliburton said. “You look around the room and that’s a crazy statement but you really realize that’s true. So for me to be a part of that means the world to me.”
Hard-earned seats
If it wasn’t rough enough that Will Thornton and a few of his Iowa State buddies spent three nights camping out in freezing and windy weather in front of Hilton Coliseum for the right to sit in front-row baseline seats Saturday, it's also noteworthy that they also aren’t allowed to bring heaters.
Instead, the students brought tents, well-insulated sleeping bags and cots that at least kept them from sleeping directly on the cold cement. And Thornton said winds Friday gusted up to 60 miles an hour, forcing him to manually hold ends of the tent down while a fellow student ran to get sandbags.
But they still managed to have a good time and occasionally even get to class, since the lines are run on an honor system that allows breaks.
“It adds fun to the game days,” said Jonah Mandernach.
After camping for three nights outside Hilton Coliseum, Will Thornton (right, in helmet) and some fellow Iowa State students earned front-row seats for the ISU-Arizona game on March 1, 2025, at Ames, Iowa.
Because the Cyclones hosted Kansas before students returned for the spring semester, the Arizona game on Saturday produced the most student anticipation, with the student line eventually wrapping three-quarters of the way around Hilton Coliseum. The students near the front earned seats behind the baskets, while latecomers (or those who may just have sanity) sat in the upper deck.
Iowa State senior Owen McKim said students lined up a week before ESPN GameDay showed up and normally start lining up a day or two before the game.
With one exception.
“We didn’t camp out for Colorado,” McKim said of the last-place Buffaloes.
St. Louis bond
Despite leaving high school as a much less-heralded prospect than fellow St. Louis product Caleb Love, Iowa State’s Keshon Gilbert wound up in the same place: Playing against him in a Top 25 matchup Saturday night.
While Love was the hero of Arizona’s Jan. 27 win over Iowa State at McKale Center, he paid respect to Gilbert, who had 17 points, six rebounds and three assists in that game.
“That's one of my homies,” Love said. “Obviously, I knew him in high school, watching his story and where he's gotten today. He's one of the best players in the country, so credit to him. I'm proud of his story and where he's come from.”
Love was the No. 7-ranked player in the class of 2020 out of Christian Brothers College High School, according to 247, while Gilbert was ranked 226 in the class of 2021 out of Vashon High School. Love started his career at UNLV, while Love did so at North Carolina.
Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger indicated earlier this week he wasn’t surprised to see their bond.
“I think these guys, whether it's workouts or being from a certain area, or whether it's someone you encounter on the AAU circuit or whatever, they are very small circles,” Otzelberger said. “The best players seek out the other best players to work out against, to play against, to get in the gym with, to get shots up with. So you build those relationships. When guys see how other guys work, there's a respect that can be gained from one another, because you see the time and the craft that people put into it.”
One-time experiment
Freshman Carter Bryant said he, KJ Lewis and Trey Townsend all made plans to wear headbands for the Wildcats’ game against Utah on Wednesday, but only Bryant followed through.
“They left me out there alone. Left me out there, lone soldier,” Bryant said.
Bryant said he “might make them wear it” at Iowa State and said he wasn’t sure if he would again.
“It might be Tobe’s call,” Bryant said, to which Awaka said “I like it, personally.”
Bryant opted not to anyway.
Trivia answer
Arizona actually was the opponent when Hilton Coliseum first opened its doors for men’s basketball back on Dec. 2, 1971.
The hosts weren’t too gracious. Iowa State beat the Wildcats 71-54 in that game and also beat them by 12 points when UA visited 12 years later – the two games in Ames before the two met as Big 12 rivals there for the first time on Saturday.
Hilton Magic
Of course, Arizona is hardly the only team to suffer at Hilton Coliseum, which bills itself as creating “Hilton Magic,” a concept introduced by Des Moines Register sportswriter Buck Turnbull in 1989. The phrase is not only common around ISU but also stamped on the main video board and elsewhere around the arena.
Iowa State has won 75.1% of its games since the Wildcats helped opened the building in 1971, while the Cyclones were 32-1 over the past two seasons entering Saturday’s game.
Red Panda magic
Acrobat Red Panda made her second appearance at a UA basketball game this season and, maybe in part because of that “Hilton Magic,” this time it was even better.
Known for improbably flipping stacks of bowls on her head while riding a unicycle, Red Panda missed a couple during her performance during the UA-Duke game at McKale Center on Nov. 22 but had no such trouble Saturday, delighting the Hilton Coliseum crowd.
