Storm warning: A rematch with the Red Raiders
· Yahoo Sports
This will probably be a bit more difficult.
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After a 91-42 drubbing of Arizona State, Iowa State will now face Texas Tech, who is the only road team to exit Hilton Coliseum with a win this season. Although they shot very well against the Cyclones, they finished their Big 12 campaign by dropping their final two games to finish with the 4 seed in the tournament. The Red Raiders lost star forward JT Toppin earlier this season, and their recent results have demonstrated that they are a much more volatile squad without his presence.
Let’s take a look at ASU…View LinkThat game should be rated R for death, violence, foul language, and Bobby Hurley smoking in the parking lot (unconfirmed).
Iowa State set a new school record with their 49-point drumming over the Sun Devils, the largest margin over a conference opponent in program history. I’m not sure if there is anything negative to take away from the game. Free throws could have been better? I guess?
Joshua Jefferson recorded 20 points and 12 rebounds for his first double-double since his triple-double against UCF back on Jan 20. Momcilovic led the team with 21 points on 4-8 shooting from deep. My game ball goes to Blake Buchanan, who recorded a season high 17 points to go along with six rebounds. Thank the lucky stars that neither him or Pleta are graduating.
The ASU defense, along with everything else, was in fits the entire game. They scored just 16 points in the first half and ended the day with 23 turnovers. In their two matchups in just five days, Iowa State forced 46 turnovers and allowed just 35 made shots. Is that good? I think that is good.
The Texas Tech game was… less goodIn a game where nothing was going the way of the Cyclones, Texas Tech took advantage from the jump. The Red Raiders took a commanding 16-point lead into the half behind strong shooting from beyond the arc and a stifling defense that put the Iowa State offense in a complete rut. Texas Tech shot an absurd 14-29 from deep and 58% from the floor. Iowa State shot a bit worse, 39% from the field and 33% from distance.
The worst part about that loss was how Iowa State looked like they were in a funk the entire game. Missed passes, some late rotations, and even when they do everything correct on defense their show went in at the last second every time. Every time that Iowa State may have gotten some momentum in the second half, Texas Tech hit an overly tough shot to kill the mood in the building. A good three point shooting team will always be the Achilles heel for this defense as long as they can escape the traps, and that’s exactly what the Cyclones ran into two weeks ago.
So how does Iowa State avenge this dreary loss? Here are my thoughts.
- Hit the easy shots. There were so many layups or offensive rebounds that still resulted in empty possessions that are integral in either building momentum, or slowing down the opponent’s momentum when Iowa State last played Texas Tech. That is a very simple thing to fix.
- Limit how many miracle shots Texas Tech hits. I don’t know what they can really do about it, but there were so many shots two weeks ago that were the definition of desperation shots that happened to go in. I still believe that Tech’s performance had a bit of luck with it, so maybe they can miss a few more so they can be a normal team.
- Find that flow from yesterday. Is Texas Tech significantly better than ASU? Yes. Did Iowa State look silky smooth for 40 minutes yesterday? Also yes. If they can stay loose and stay confident, they can absolutely beat Texas Tech without praying for an off-shooting day from the opposition.
Prediction: ISU 72 – Texas Tech 68