Jan 1, 2022; Ames, IA, USA; Iowa State’s Tyrese Hunter and Baylor’s Adam Flagler chase the ball during the Iowa State men’s basketball game against No. 1 Baylor, on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022, at Hilton Coliseum, in Ames. The Cyclones fell to the Bears 77-72. Mandatory Credit: Kelsey Kremer-USA TODAY Sports
Heading into Iowa State’s marquee matchup with the Baylor Bears, I pointed to three keys I thought the Cyclones had to accomplish to pull off the upset.
- Win the turnover battle.
- Break-even on the boards.
- Guard the 3-point line to under 30 percent.
This is a simple formula, but simple does not mean easy to execute.
Let’s examine how Iowa State faired and consider what they can improve upon before their game against Texas Tech on Wednesday night.
Turnovers – I’m not sure that anyone doubted that the Cyclones’ defensive prowess would carry over from non-conference to Big 12 play but if they did, those doubts were laid to rest on Saturday.
Baylor is a legitimate Final Four ball club with a plethora of great guards and Iowa State turned them over 19 times.
This sort of performance has become common for this team, but we should not understate how impressive that is.
On the other side of the ball, the Cyclones committed 17 turnovers.
Granted Baylor is one of the best defensive teams in the country, (ask Villanova) but this simply is too many.
Rarely will I make a critique of a team who commits turnovers attacking the rim when they are doing it with conviction.
Those types of turnovers happen and are a necessary part of playing an attacking style of offense.
The turnovers the Cyclones must clean up are the cross-court passes, ball reversal, and tentative drive turnovers they committed Saturday.
These are correctable with additional ball toughness, concentration, and decision-making emphasis in the coming days of practice.
Rebounding – I said coming in, the Cyclones needed to break even, and they almost accomplished this as Baylor won this battle with a slight advantage of 32-30.
Not bad considering Baylor has elite size, length, and athleticism.
If you can go toe-to-toe with them on the boards, you can rebound with anyone.
Iowa State was able to grab 10 offensive rebounds, which is a great target number for them moving forward.
Conditt, Enaruna, and Brockington all have the capability to be above average offensive rebounders in the Big 12 and this should serve as an X-factor for the team’s offensive production.
On the defensive glass, the Cyclones gave up 12 offensive rebounds which is a number I think they can improve upon.
While Iowa State did guard extremely hard in this game, several of Baylor’s second chance opportunities came off penetration.
If the Cyclones can tighten up their gap help so their bigs do not have to rotate from the weak side, this will help them maintain rebounding leverage and clean up second-chance opportunities.
Additionally, every perimeter player for the Cyclones should watch Izaiah Brockington rebounding clips before each game.
While no one has his size, strength, and leaping combination, every guard they have can attack the boards with his tenacity.
This will be critical as players like Conditt, Enaruna, Jaz, and Jones try to fend off elite big men in Big 12 play.
Every guard that plays for this team should have a goal of grabbing five rebounds in every game. That would take this team from a good rebounding team to one of the best in the Big 12.
Guarding the 3 – What can I say, Big 12 play is not for the faint of heart.
While the Cyclones were not perfect on their rotations, switches, and communication (no team ever is) they were damn good.
Baylor shot 41 percent from the 3-point line and hit a variety of tough mid-range jump shots.
In this league, you can do everything right and the other team has future pros that can hit tough shots anyway.
I think that happened some on Saturday and was in my opinion, the key to Baylor’s victory.
After a loss, we often want there to be more to it but in this case, one of the best teams in the country just had it going from the perimeter.
Look for the Cyclones to dissect the errors made in the film room and move on.
Iowa State is a great defensive team that guards the three as hard as any team in America.
Continue to aspire for perfection, but understand you are chasing something that does not exist.
Stay committed to your plan, you are going to win a lot of games guarding this way.
As Iowa State prepares for its next test against Texas Tech, I think they will come out with a victory if they can clean up careless turnovers, get more from their guards rebounding the basketball, and stay committed to guarding the way that they have all year.
There are no moral victories in college basketball, but we can take away from Saturday’s game that this team can beat anyone in the country at Hilton Coliseum.
Next up, they are tasked with earning their first victory in league play.
It is a sobering challenge as this league is too good to give away anything easy.
Every win will be hard-earned by every team.
The challenge of earning your place in the Big 12 has officially begun.
Game on!
