Cyclones to meet Northwestern in Chicago Invite finals

The Iowa State men’s basketball team will be playing in the finals of the Chicago Invitational on Saturday night against a surprise opponent.

That’s Northwestern of the Big Ten Conference.

After Iowa State beat St. Louis 65-54 in game one of the double-header in Chicago, Northwestern upset Notre Dame of the Big East by a final of 72-58.

After Iowa State’s win, Randy Peterson of the Des Moines Register caught up with St. Louis head coach Rick Majerus. The famed coach had some great things to say about Iowa State.

CLICK HERE to read Peterson’s story.

Craig Brackins and Diante Garrett both scored 16 points to lead the Cyclones in scoring on Friday. Marquis Gilstrap and Lucca Staiger were both in double-figures as well, scoring 11 and 10 points.

LaRon Dendy left the game in the first half when he re-injured the knee that has kept him sidelined for the past two weeks. After the game, Greg McDermott told reporters that Dendy’s knee had tightened up and that the staff would take another look at the injury on Saturday to see if he’d be able to play in the championship.

The championship game of the Chicago Invitational between Iowa State and Northwestern will be televised on the Big Ten Network on Saturday night starting at approximately 7 p.m.

Chris’ Take:

Like many of you, I didn’t get to watch this game so it’s tough to offer much insightful analysis. But from taking a look at the stats and reading some quotes, it appears to me that Iowa State won an “ugly” basketball game by 11 points. We’ll take it.

The real surprise of the night came in game two of the double-header. This works out great for Cyclone fans. With Northwestern pulling the upset, it sounds/looks like tomorrow night’s game will be televised for all to see across the country.