STORY: Iowa State falls flat at the free throw line, can't complete comeback on Virginia Tech

[Connor_Ferguson]

Iowa State found itself behind by double digits for the second-straight game, but couldn't storm back to beat Virginia Tech in its first loss of the season.

Iowa State lacks free throws, can't complete comeback in loss to Virginia Tech

Nov 24, 2023; Kissimmee, FL, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies guard Sean Pedulla (3) shoots the ball against the Iowa State Cyclones in the first half during the ESPN Events Invitational Semifinal at State Farm Field House. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports Iowa State missed 11 free

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[HouClone]

The free throw shooting has been bad and was a big contributor to our loss.

Another contributor is our defense believe it or not. We trap too much in my opinion which leads to wide open 3 pointers. Against bad teams, we can get away with it. Same thing happened last year. If I remember, after a terrible Ok State 3 pointer team lit us up by hitting open after open 3 pointers in the middle of Big 12 play, we backed off the trapping a little bit. It seemed to help our overall defense. Our record wasn't great 2nd half of Big 12 play, but our offense was awful.

 

[Cyrealist]

I think we got beat in nearly every phase of the game. We're still impatient on offense and need to defend the three-point line better and foul less. Making free throws would certainly help, but that's not really in the players' control during the game. There needs to be a two game moratorium on Curtis Jones shooting any shots from the field. Our passing was too slow and lazy to move the defense. The good news is those are fixable problems.

 

[VAISUFAN]

The free throw shooting has been bad and was a big contributor to our loss.

Another contributor is our defense believe it or not. We trap too much in my opinion which leads to wide open 3 pointers. Against bad teams, we can get away with it. Same thing happened last year. If I remember, after a terrible Ok State 3 pointer team lit us up by hitting open after open 3 pointers in the middle of Big 12 play, we backed off the trapping a little bit. It seemed to help our overall defense. Our record wasn't great 2nd half of Big 12 play, but our offense was awful.

This is a problem that I don't quite understand. VaTech has 2 shooters. Everyone else including interior players are mediocre. Yet to the very end we doubled the post and allowed the 2 shooters open shots. Why not make an adjustment according to personnel of opposing team. Tech was not going to kill us one on one in the post. Those guarding 2 shooters should never have been helping or doubling.