Iowa State men's basketball: Dustin Hogue could be Cyclones' true MVP

The Iowa State men’s basketball player previews conclude with Dustin Hogue, the Cyclones glue guy that hopes to have a constant impact as he did in the season finale last year against Connecticut.

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Last year, the Huskies had no answer for the show that Hogue had in front of his family at Madison Square Garden. The Yonkers, New York, native made 15 of 19 field goals in one game and averaged 21 points and shot 70.6 percent from the field in the entire NCAA tournament that consisted of three games.

Hogue will be one of the senior leaders on the team and will try to build on his 11.6 point and 8.4 rebound averages from a season ago. He started in all 36 games and shot 57.3 percent.

Honestly, if he just recreates his averages from a year ago, that’s all the Cyclones need. Along with Georges Niang, they will have inside help with newcomers Abdel Nader and Jameel McKay. Holding the ridiculous averages like Hogue had in the NCAA tournament are unrealistic to carry on through a whole season, but it would be great to see him go on scoring binges like he had against UConn.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Hogue’s playing time when McKay becomes eligible. Will he solidify his position as a senior leader on the team and bang the boards while being a consistent offensive threat, or will the minutes drain if Niang, Nader, and McKay are truly impressive?

If Hogue can be the box score stuffer that he has been for most of last year while spicing up his offense in conference play, there’s a big chance that he could be one of the unsung heroes of the group as players like Niang, Bryce Dejean-Jones, and Monte Morris get the spotlight.

Iowa State men’s basketball: Dustin Hogue could be Cyclones’ true MVP

By Brian Spaen | Nov 4, 2014