*** Official #2 Houston vs IOWA STATE Game(Day) Thread ***

[1100011CS]

I just drove about 4 miles in CR and it's a ********. No chance I'm going. Posting tickets in 3,2,1...

Yep. From the East is pretty bad:

Statewide Emergency Message​ Dangerous Road Conditions I-80 East of Des Moines to Illinois Dangerous whiteout conditions and numerous crashes make travel on I-80 east of Des Moines to the Illinois border and the Cedar Rapids area highly discouraged. Conditions can change rapidly, and in emergencies, accessing the scene may be impossible for emergency vehicles. Before you go, consider if it’s necessary to travel.

 

[NiceMarmot]

Anyone made the drive on I-35 from Ankeny to Ames? Trying to decide if I should buy some of these cheap tickets and go tonight.

 

[CycloneRulzzz]

Fran is going to be on the Drive on KXNO.

 

[ClonesFTW]

Anyone made the drive on I-35 from Ankeny to Ames? Trying to decide if I should buy some of these cheap tickets and go tonight.

Looks ok based on the cameras

Iowa 511 Travel Information Map

Reports regarding traffic incidents, winter road conditions, traffic cameras, active and planned construction, etc.

www.511ia.org

 

[ISU4Life]

 

[Jnecker4cy]

are there no students back at all? Are the dorms closed? Off campus students aren't back yet?

Students are not back till this weekend school starts Monday. Ticket not part of there package.

 

[CycloneErik]

If someone is in the area and can make it, please take advantage of this. Not sure I have ever seen hundreds of tickets for free or $2 against the #2 team in the country.

Half tempted to quit my night job just to make it.

 

[MeowingCows]

Anyone made the drive on I-35 from Ankeny to Ames? Trying to decide if I should buy some of these cheap tickets and go tonight.

Watching this myself...just looking at cams on the interstate and hwy 30, as well as on campus, it looks pretty promising for us. My only concern is blowing snow or refreeze ice afterward?

 

[NiceMarmot]

Watching this myself...just looking at cams on the interstate and hwy 30, as well as on campus, it looks pretty promising for us. My only concern is blowing snow or refreeze ice afterward?

That was my only concern as well. Think the drive to Ames will be fine. Post-game drive will be slow but it typically is anyway a lot of the time.

 

[packattack425]

Watching this myself...just looking at cams on the interstate and hwy 30, as well as on campus, it looks pretty promising for us. My only concern is blowing snow or refreeze ice afterward?

Who cares about post game? We people in their seats for the game being loud!

Half kidding…

 

[MeowingCows]

Who cares about post game? We people in their seats for the game being loud!

Half kidding…

Well, I gotta get home safely so I can go to more games later!

 

[WhatchaGonnaDo]

Whatever it is, you can tell he studies and prepares. He also seems to appreciate many of the the stories and history of Iowa State Basketball, especially at Hilton.

I would imagine he is appreciated at many other basketball venues also, because he is complimentary and does know a team's past and present history. His jovial Brooklyn mannerisms are great also.

I also really like how it's so clear it's more than a job to him. Like he genuinely enjoys being there.

From what I've seen elsewhere on the internet, KU fans aren't universally fond of him because he "shows favoritism" to teams AKA doesn't grovel at the feet of the Jayhawk like all other announcers

 

[CycloneRulzzz]

Fran on KXNO after commercial break.

 

[Chitowncy]

are there no students back at all? Are the dorms closed? Off campus students aren't back yet?

Yes, dorms still closed. Class is not in session yet. I believed they offered students the opportunity to buy some tickets, so they'll be interspersed with the families that buy up those sections as part of the Jr Cyclone Club, but it won't be the rowdy baselines you're used to.

Baylor and Kansas in recent years have benefitted from playing ISU early in the year before the students get back and have pulled off wins. Always irked me. This year the top team getting the break is Houston. At least we get Okie State for the last break game on Saturday and hopefully don't need that extra boost from the crowd in it.

 

[CyGuy5]

All the cheap/free tickets on here really makes me wish I didn’t live in KC

 

[Urbandale2013]

North of Huxley it looks like they updated to seasonal.

 

[CascadiaClone]

This game is going to be won or lost at the free throw line. Just looked at the couple “close” games Houston has had this year and noticed a lot of points left at the stripe. This worries me, but I just looked up our FT % for the year and its higher than I anticipated - just under 70%.

On the other hand, Houston is hitting on about 67% and opponents 63%. If we shoot well from the line that could swing the game.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

Not sure what it's doing weather wise in central Iowa, but if this game was played out here in the eastern part of the state I think they'd have called it. The weather is no bueno out here.

 

[ZRF]

All the cheap/free tickets on here really makes me wish I didn’t live in KC

Me too.

 

[ZRF]

This game is going to be won or lost at the free throw line. Just looked at the couple “close” games Houston has had this year and noticed a lot of points left at the stripe. This worries me, but I just looked up our FT % for the year and its higher than I anticipated - just under 70%.

On the other hand, Houston is hitting on about 67% and opponents 63%. If we shoot well from the line that could swing the game.

I don't think it's likely to happen with this team, but probably the biggest area of concern is the amount of times we opt for a sloppy double, only for it to directly lead to an open basket (first pass...open player from the man that doubled) or indirectly a few passes later (slow rotations). Making it even more frustrating is these have often come in stretches of good man defense where the double was completely unecessary. Without having stats to back this up it feels like we easily yield 6-10 points on such situations. While other teams can do this (at times) as well, the amount we do this looks and feels excessive.

We also give up a lot of bad rebounds in situations where we either had (clear) position or had major ratio advantage around the ball. In particular Milan is one of the worst rebounders I've ever seen as he routinely watches the ball while failing to block out or secure the rebound.

Ward needs to keep himself on the floor (stay out of foul trouble) as we look and feel like a completely different team when he plays. He's electric on the defensive end and one of the few players we have who never stops moving.