The 2015–16 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team represented

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

during the

2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 13. The first early-season tournaments to begin were the Puerto Rico Tip-Off and the Charleston Classic. The season ended with the 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tour ...

. The Cyclones were coached by

Steve Prohm Steven Marshall Prohm (born July 12, 1974) is an American basketball coach who most recently served as the head coach at Murray State University from 2022 to 2025. Previously, he was the head coach at Iowa State University, a position he had hel ...

, who was in his 1st season. They played their home games at

Hilton Coliseum James H. Hilton Coliseum, is a 14,267-seat multi-purpose arena located in Ames, Iowa. The arena opened in 1971. It is home to the Iowa State University Cyclones men's and women's basketball teams, wrestling, gymnastics and volleyball teams. Over ...

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines in central Iowa. It is the home of Iowa State University (ISU). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Ames ha ...

and competed in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

. They finished the season 23–12 10–8 in

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

play to finish tied for 5th place. They lost to

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated

Iona Iona (; , sometimes simply ''Ì'') is an island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there are other buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaeli ...

and

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

to advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Previous season

Iowa State finished the season 25–9, 12–6 in

play to finish in second place. They defeated

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

to become champions of the Big 12 Conference tournament to earn and automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. In the NCAA Tournament they were upset by UAB in the second round. After months of speculation, it was announced on June 2, 2015, that

Fred Hoiberg Fredrick Kristian Hoiberg (born October 15, 1972) is an American college basketball coach and former player. He has served as the men's head basketball coach at the University of Nebraska since 2019. Hoiberg grew up in Ames, Iowa, and played coll ...

would be accepting the head coach position with the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. On June 8, 2015, it was announced that Iowa State would be hiring

Murray State Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

head coach

for the same position.

Offseason departures

Recruiting

Prep recruits

Incoming transfers

Roster

Schedule and results

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Rankings

Awards and honors

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

ns : Georges Niang (2nd Team) * Senior CLASS All-American : Georges Niang * Big 12 Newcomer of the Year : Deonte Burton * Academic All-Big 12 First Team :

Matt Thomas (basketball) Matthew William Thomas (born August 4, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for Alba Berlin of the German Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones before starting his ...

* All-Conference Selections : Georges Niang (1st Team) : Monté Morris (1st Team) : Jameel McKay (Honorable Mention) :

Abdel Nader Abdel Rahman Nader (; born September 25, 1993) is an Egyptian-American professional basketball player who last played for the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for th ...

(Honorable Mention) : Matt Thomas (Honorable Mention) * Big 12 Player of the Week : Monté Morris (November 29) : Jameel McKay (December 13) : Monté Morris (January 24)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 Iowa State Cyclones Men's basketball team Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball seasons

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

Iowa State Cyc Iowa State Cyc