If we win neither would be easy, KU crashes the boards like madmen, crazy athletic. Providence can shoot the lights out from 3 when they are on. Both would be huge challenge.I wouldn’t count out Providence in that matchup…
Why? Lol Kansas is a GREAT matchup for us.Only wish Creighton had taken out Kansas...
Great breakdown.We *should* roll them. It's March, so there are no certainties. But I jumped all over Miami -1 when it first dropped last night. It's up to Miami -2.5.
We are an awful matchup for them, they're a good matchup for us.
We will struggle with elite offensive teams who play OK defense. That's the blueprint to beat us, because although we force a lot of turnovers, our defensive efficiency is not good and if we face a team who is truly elite at putting the ball in the basket, we'll struggle to keep up. Iowa State is NOT that team. Their adjusted O ranking is 156th. Their adjusted D ranking is 5th. But good offense beats good defense in basketball. I would much rather this team face a squad ranked 156th in O and 5th in D vs the opposite. Is there a chance they play some lockdown defense on us and turn this into a rock fight? Sure. But I don't really see it. They're 278th in the country in turnovers, we force a ton, and we're the most efficient transition team in America. We'll get some easy baskets based off our defense and ability to force turnovers. We also struggle rebounding the ball, and a team who is excellent in that area can exploit it. Iowa State is 313th in total rebounds.
They don't score a lot of points, they turn it over a lot, and they don't rebound well. They had lost 3 straight headed into the tournament, and in those 3 games they scored 36 (!!!), 68, and 41 points. In the tournament, they've won their 2 games scoring 59 and 54 points. Averaging 52 PPG in their last 5 games. We've scored less than 60 points one time this season. Once in 35 games.
If we push close to 70 points, I'm not sure they can keep up with that. Again, heading to the tournament, this team was 4-7 in their last 11 games. The wins were against TCU by 3 (good win, TCU is a tournament team), Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Kansas State. The 3 worst teams in the Big 12.
I'll be REALLY disappointed if we don't beat this team.
Great breakdown.
I reviewed the second half of their season and was shocked they even got into the tournament. They absolutely withered down the stretch, went 7-11 in conference, and didn’t win a single game in the B12 tourney.
That’s not taking away from what they did at all in this tournament. They got in and they’ve been winning ever since, kudos to their squad. But this is a game where we should have an bigger advantage. Their hope is to muck up our ball movement, slow the pace of play, rarely turn the ball over, then be just efficient enough on offense to win.
I wasn't sure who I wanted to win that one. Wisconsin has the much better resume though, they beat a lot of good teams, beat Purdue twice, but the last few games they played did not look very good from what I saw. Relied on Davis and Davison pretty much to do it all. If either was off they seem to struggle. I was happy to see ISU win. Wiscy lost their pg in that game, never really seemed to click after.I would much rather have played Wisconsin. Iowa St is similar to UVa and USC.
They slow the game down, play tough D, and are efficient in transition. This is a tough matchup for us, no question. I expect a low-scoring, close game. We'll need to shoot better to beat them
I would much rather have played Wisconsin. Iowa St is similar to UVa and USC.
They slow the game down, play tough D, and are efficient in transition. This is a tough matchup for us, no question. I expect a low-scoring, close game. We'll need to shoot better to beat them
Wisconsin without Hepburn I agree. But ISU turns it over a lot. That’s where we win games.I would much rather have played Wisconsin. Iowa St is similar to UVa and USC.
They slow the game down, play tough D, and are efficient in transition. This is a tough matchup for us, no question. I expect a low-scoring, close game. We'll need to shoot better to beat them