*** Official #3 IOWA STATE vs Arizona Game(Day) Thread ***

[MeanDean]

That 9:30 start time on a Monday night is some old Pac 10 horse poo.

Try 10:30 here on the Atlantic coast!

 

[RagingCloner]

Gonna need to hit some 3's. AZ has a lot of length, especially inside. Jacksons gonna have to play an A game

 

[bosco]

Another test to see if we have the mettle to be a #1 seed. Great teams win these.

 

[inCyteful]

I think this is our toughest game of the year. Yes, tougher than Houston. Houston is a better team but a mirror of ourselves and that one will come down to who is tougher.

This one is going to be more about physics.

Arizona is going to give us the same problems Miami did in the tournament a few years ago. Lots of length. They need this Q1 win. They have momentum, it is at there home court. Milan would have been a big help here with his ability to shoot over the defense.

I think we are scrappy and battle to hang in there but fall a bit short -

Zona 77
ISU 72

Hope I am wrong.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Try 10:30 here on the Atlantic coast!

You've got time for 2-3 naps before tip-off

 

[bosco]

Can we get one game where all the cylinders are firing at the right time? We don't need everyone to have a career game. They just need to what they are capable of all together for 1 game so we can see what this team really can do.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Predictions:

- We'll attack their bigs early to try to get them in foul trouble

- Heise grabs 7-8 boards and hits a couple crucial 3s

- We wear them down with our superior bench and outlast them in the end

ISU - 86
UofA - 81

 

[Pope]

Gonna be a war in the paint. Keep an eye on the foul situation between their bigs and our bigs.

Also, in addition to our guards, it would be incredibly helpful if we could get a few 3's from folks like Heise, Watson, and Jefferson.

 

[PizzaTheHutt]

In case anyone wants extra content to get them through the day. Jason Scheer Pod with a preview of tonight.

 

[bawbie]

Lots of talk on Williams and Blum about their size. They are indeed long and big, guards are huge/physical guys, but it's worth noting that Krivas is done for the year (foot injury) and he was their best big and 7'2". They've got Veesaar who's 7' and comes of the bench, but the rest of their rotation is 6'3" to 6'8". So I don't think we'll be as overmatched as anticipated from a size standpoint.

They are really good offensive rebounding thought, so that's a concern for me. This will be a tough one and we'll need the best version of Keshon tonight and need Jackson/Chatfield to step up as well.

I did not know that Krivas was done for the year (I should have, he hasn't played since the beginning of December). That definitely changes the calculus up front - there's a reason kenpom has both team's "effective height" at exactly the same.
Awaka is as big as Jefferson (listed at 6'8" 250#) but he only plays ~18 minutes a game - in part because of foul trouble. Their rebounding is really a two-man show with Awaka and Veesaar - if we can get either of them in foul trouble, I could definitely see us going to that small-ball rotation again late and Jefferson cooking (again)

I feel pretty good about this game - but funky things can happen at opposing arenas. This Arizona team isn't like BYU last year stylistically - but that's a good example of what can happen when the home team gets hot and rolling. The WVU game too, this year, for what can happen when we go ice cold. Arizona had a similar game @ TTU where they lost by 16 shooting 3-18 from three and 15-40 from two.

 

[CascadeClone]

DJ needs to play a really strong game.
Guards need to frustrate Love so he forces a bunch of bad shots and turns it over.
Gotta rebound!

Should be a great college bball game.

 

[awd4cy]

I’m seeing Arizona as the 1.5 point favorite

Yep, and now 2.5 point favorite. This is a tough place to play, but I’m excited to see what our guys do tonight.

 

[awd4cy]

Gonna need to hit some 3's. AZ has a lot of length, especially inside. Jacksons gonna have to play an A game

He’s gotta be better defensively than the first half against ASU.

 

[ClonesTwenty1]

Hope everyone has a pot of coffee ready tonight to say up to near midnight

 

[ClonesTwenty1]

Really going to have to shoot well to win this one.

75-68 AZ unfortunately but hopefully wrong

 

[bawbie]

Hope everyone has a pot of coffee ready tonight to say up to near midnight

lol, the number of comments on this crack me up. It's big game - suck it up buttercup!

 

[ebState]

Conference realignment sucks and football money is a black hole tearing apart everything around it but... Getting to play Arizona every year in conference games is really cool.

 

[StLouisClone]

I wasn't too impressed with Arizona when I watched them lose to UCLA in Phoenix. Looks like they have only lost 1 game since

 

[iseedit]

I'm gonna say Keshon has got a little something to show Caleb Love on both offense and defense. He's gonna pick his shots in the middle of the lane a little more like Curtis has been doing cause he sees how well it's been working for him. Both him a Curtis will have a 20+ point game. Jefferson will be the dawg that he is and get his 9th double double. Tamin will be like the annoying little brother that won't leave you alone, knocking the ball away and hitting a crucial shot at just the right time. Jackson is gonna knock down 8 FT and Chat will grab or tip 6 boards. Heise is gonna shoot and be annoying on defense. Watson is gonna be Swatson...flying high! It's gonna be an easier game than Saturday.

 

[keepngoal]

I wasn't too impressed with Arizona when I watched them lose to UCLA in Phoenix. Looks like they have only lost 1 game since

meh... A game in mid December really isn't a good barometer.