Mar 18, 2022; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Tyrese Hunter (11) celebrates with teammates after defeating the LSU Tigers during the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
MILWAUKEE — They say the most dangerous man at the poker table is the one with nothing to lose. Allow me to introduce you to the Iowa State Cyclones heading into Sunday’s Round of 32 bout vs. the Wisconsin Badgers (5:10 p.m. on TNT).
The following is old news by now but I want to put it in writing again for perspective. From Iowa State’s press notes leading up to Sunday:
“Iowa State is +19 in the win column this season compared to the last, the best turnaround in school and Big 12 history and the best-ever by a team led by a first-year head coach.”
Point being — the maverick Cyclones have already made history this season. Just making the NCAA Tournament was an improbable and incredible accomplishment. Winning a game in Milwaukee made the year a colossal success.
But once you get invited to the dance, weird things can happen. Now, the Cyclones are the grainy guy at the table slinging cards on the house’s dime.
Nothing to lose.
Despite what Iowa State is saying (all of the right things), there is extra motivation at play too. Iowa State’s second-round opponent happens to be a program that passed up on rising star point guard Tyrese Hunter and one that the head coach grew up watching while idolizing Dick Bennett as a kid.
“When I first started playing basketball, I didn’t even see myself really getting to this high a level,” Hunter said. “Not like a kid from Racine to get a lot of recognition like that. But I know the dedication and the work I had to put in and a lot of blessings came toward me, but Wisconsin was never really in my view.”
The Otzleberger vs. Greg Gard aspect of all of this is fun. Their upbringing in the sport could not have been more opposite when you compared the two. Both Wisconsin-born, Gard was a longtime Bo Ryan disciple before being given the job in 2015. He’s done well with it too, earning two Big Ten regular-season titles in 2020 and 2022 (where he was awarded as the league’s Coach of the Year both times as well).
Otz, on the other hand, started in the high school ranks. He went onto JUCO, spent nearly a decade as an assistant at Iowa State, and worked at Washington before climbing the head coaching ladder to high-major.
“He’s not somebody who was handed a job or was born right into it,” Gard said. “He’s had to work his way up. So you have an appreciation for those type of people who had to put their time in at various stops and lower levels and that type of thing. Like I said, just happy for him, but it won’t be Greg against T.J. tomorrow. It’s going to be Iowa State and their players against Wisconsin and their players.”
This will feel like a true road game for Iowa State. Think Hilton South without Kansas as an opponent. The Fiserv Forum will be 90 percent (at least) full of inebriated Wisconsin fans on Sunday evening.
Iowa State is basically Rocky heading into Moscow to fight Ivan Drago on Christmas Day.
“Honestly, I don’t really pay attention to the crowd that much unless I like get going, get them involved,” Hunter said. “I don’t really feel like I’m in enemy territory. This is my backyard right here. I don’t really care if they’ve got thousands and thousands of people out there. That’s motivation for me. I might shush the crowd a couple times if they got that much people out there, but it’s all motivation for me.”
Despite Iowa State’s shortcomings – and there are plenty of them – the Cyclones are only a 4.5 point underdog to Wisconsin. Analytics website KenPom.com has the Badgers favored by one. It is notable that both the pros in Vegas (opening line of 3) and the computers have Iowa State as a shorter dog than they did against LSU in the first round of the tourney.
That’s because there are aspects of this matchup that are favorable to the Cyclones. Read Jared Stansbury’s scout from Saturday morning for more on the X’s and O’s.
The entire scenario sets up well for Iowa State – or horribly – depending on how you like to look at things.
Beating Wisconsin in Milwaukee to go to the Sweet 16 is without question going to be a monumental task. But when you think about it, winning one road game (and this will be a road game) isn’t anything compared to accomplishing what this team has already done – which is complete the biggest turnaround in the history of college basketball.
