3 things to watch in Iowa State vs. Mississippi Valley State basketball

Iowa State Basketball is ready to begin its 2024-25 season with its season opener against visiting Mississippi Valley State on Monday night.

The meeting point is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Hilton Coliseum. The game will also be available on ESPN+.

Here are three things to keep in mind for Monday night's game:

The struggling Mississippi Valley State is getting a fresh start

The Delta Devils no longer feature Rayquan Brown, who averaged 18.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in his final season before graduating.

They also brought in a lot of new faces, with Donovan Sanders (10.5 points per game) and backup Walter Hamilton (2.1 points per game) being their only returnees to play significant minutes since last year's 1-for-30 finish .

Mississippi Valley State has struggled in recent years. The Delta Devils have not won more than nine games in a single season since the 2011-12 season, in which they finished 21-13.

Since then, the Delta Devils are 58-310 overall and 48-165 in SWAC play. It's safe to say victory is likely for the No. 6 Cyclones, who will look to shake off the rust in a preseason game for the Maui Invitational later in November.

First public look at the Cyclones' new forecourt

Iowa State has put a lot of work into the transfer portal to replenish its frontcourt.

The Cyclones' backcourt is already known, but what will the frontcourt look like? Who starts? What will the rotation look like, at least at the start of the season?

Iowa State's new frontcourt includes the brash Brandton Chatfield, a 6-foot-2 transfer who played three seasons in Seattle, and versatile 6-foot-1 forward Joshua Jefferson, who started at Saint Mary's last season before leaving suffered a season-ending injury, and 6-11 rim runner Dishon Jackson, who averaged 11.4 points and 6.1 rebounds last season in Charlotte and also played solid minutes for two years at Washington State.

Also keep an eye on 7-foot center JT Rock, who has added muscle and feels ready to contribute after a redshirt season. He enrolled a year early and got a head start on his college career. He is only 18 years old, but has a year of experience practicing and working in the Cyclones system as well as strength and conditioning training at the Division I level.

Keep an eye on UNI transfer Nate Heise

During the preseason and at Iowa State men's basketball media day, the Northern Iowa transfer earned high praise from his teammates as a freshman, notable for his versatility and ability to do almost anything from the guard position .

How does he fit into this experienced backcourt and does he provide another weapon on the bench?

The 6-foot-2 guard started 87 of the 91 games he played at Northern Iowa. Last season, he averaged 13.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 0.9 steals per game while shooting 46.3% overall and 35.6% from distance. He was named third team all-conference and led Northern Iowa in points and minutes played last year.

Depth will be a strength for the Cyclones this season, and it will be interesting to see how Heise fits into this talented backcourt that also includes Keshon Gilbert, Tamin Lipsey and Curtis Jones.

Iowa State is expected to win by a wide margin on Monday night, so there should be plenty of minutes to experiment with different lineups.

Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.

Keep an eye on UNI transfer Nate Heise

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