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Iowa State Basketball: 5 keys for a successful 2018-19 season

By Lukas Harkins

AMES, IA - FEBRUARY 10: An Iowa State Cyclones cheer on her team in the second half of play at Hilton Coliseum on February 10, 2018 in Ames, Iowa. The Iowa State Cyclones won 88-80 over the Oklahoma Sooners. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA - FEBRUARY 10: An Iowa State Cyclones cheer on her team in the second half of play at Hilton Coliseum on February 10, 2018 in Ames, Iowa. The Iowa State Cyclones won 88-80 over the Oklahoma Sooners. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /
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LUBBOCK, TX – FEBRUARY 07: Lindell Wigginton #5 of the Iowa State Cyclones shoots a free throw. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX – FEBRUARY 07: Lindell Wigginton #5 of the Iowa State Cyclones shoots a free throw. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

Stars take the spotlight

Iowa State has two (maybe three, more on that later) established college stars on its roster heading into 2018-19. I do not say this lightly, either. Both Lindell Wigginton and Nick Weiler-Babb are elite players at their positions who can fill up the stat sheet on any given night. With those two running the show for the Cyclones, head coach Steve Prohm has an elite backcourt duo to work with. In addition, it helps that the two players complement each other quite well when healthy.

Starting with Weiler-Babb, the 6-foot-5 guard does a little bit of everything for Iowa State. As a junior last season, he played in 22 total games (missed nine due to injury) and posted averages of 11.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 6.8 assists. He is a capable scorer as well as an excellent facilitator. If he comes back completely healthy next year, you can expect that Weiler-Babb will dish his fair share of assists off to his high-scoring partner.

Speaking of that scorer, Wigginton is facing high expectations as he heads into his sophomore year. He had a phenomenal freshman campaign this past year and that will be hard to improve upon. Over the course of that season, the 6-foot-2 guard averaged 16.7 points per game while connecting on 40.1% of his shots from 3-point land. It certainly helps that he has such a great playmaker in Weiler-Babb running the offense but Wigginton also does a great job creating for himself.

With this duo leading the way, Iowa State has two players that they can consistently rely on to show up night in and night out. If the depth takes the next step as well, watch out.

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