The NCAA selection committee can eliminate Iowa State from first-line Selection Sunday consideration.
Maybe.
I mean, getting outplayed in the first half, then recovering well enough during the second 20 minutes to at least make it a close game with just a few ticks left, showed never-give-up determination and aggressiveness during an 82-73 loss against Texas Tech.
But that’s about all it showed during a game the Cyclones should have won.
What happened Saturday at Hilton Coliseum shouldn’t have happened, regardless of how well the Red Raiders are playing. Iowa State played well enough to beat most teams, but not well enough to match the desperation Texas Tech displayed.
The fourth-ranked Cyclones losing at home, in an arena some people like to say is full of magic?
No magic on this day, just a bunch of dead-eye shooting and aggressive defense by the visitors — that Iowa State sees in practice darn near every day. How’s that basketball saying go? Teams that play great defense sometimes can’t handle being defended. (Something like that.)
Wakeup call?
Iowa State fans can only hope, heading into a now-huge Big Monday game at No. 2 Arizona — and with still, oh so much on the line.
The Cyclones’ rude awakening was that they can be beaten anywhere if they don’t play 40 minutes of defense. Plain and simple.
Get outmuscled and outplayed in the open floor and under the basket throughout the first half, don’t get to the 3-point shooters quickly enough (if even at all) — and so much for that impressive 15-game Hilton Coliseum winning streak.
“In the first half, they came out right away wanting to win more than us,” Tamin Lipsey told reporters after Saturday’s game.
Say what?
The Cyclones, with that impressive homecourt winning streak and a definite shot at landing a coveted No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed on Selection Sunday, faced a team that wanted to win more than the home team wanted to win?
Honestly, that’s what it looked like for a lot of the 40 minutes in front of 14,267 bewildered fans.
Yes, Texas Tech is good — despite its best player being bench-ridden after undergoing ACL surgery. Yes, the Red Raiders picked it up a couple notches because they’re playing for a good NCAA Tournament and Big 12 Tournament seed.
Nonetheless, this was a game Iowa State should have won — against a team playing with the mindset TJ Otzelberger’s team must employ at all times during the remainder of however many games are left.
Bound to happen sometime? Sure, even sometimes for a team like Iowa State that has played so well that Final Four rightly has been mentioned almost since the season started.
That’s still possible. Very possible. Would it be surprising if Iowa State won on Monday in the desert?
Heck no. Absolutely heck no.
This is still a wonderful team and program that showed in the last few minutes Saturday that it can play the outstanding defense that’s carried it throughout this still-promising season. That’s not playing the moral victory card; that’s stating reality.
There’s still plenty of time to make a statement — like winning on Monday at Arizona. A double-bye is still possible at the Big 12 Conference tournament in downtown Kansas City’s Hilton South.
A deep NCAA Tournament run is just a return to playing lockdown perimeter defense away.
Granted, some of the 14 3-pointers Texas Tech somehow made weren’t exactly great shots — yet they went in. A 3-point desperation heave just before the shot clock zeroed? Yep — 65-49 Red Raiders.
So what does Big Monday now mean for Iowa State? A lot. The 8 p.m. game is a chance to prove again it’s better than it showed Saturday — especially while trailing by 20 in the first half.
It’s a chance to add to an already glossy résumé. A chance to show The Committee it deserves to be at least on the 2-line. A chance for a No. 4 seed at the Big 12 tournament.
We know better than to doubt Otzelberger’s team. Do you really think any opponent the rest of this season will make eight of their first 10 3-point shots, like Texas Tech did early in Saturday’s game?
That would be surprising.
So would Iowa State not playing with the desperation that college basketball’s wonderful month of March demands.
(Columnist Randy Peterson, a past Iowa Sportswriter of the Year winner, can be reached at [email protected] or at any Okoboji-area beverage/food establishment between the hours of open and close.)
