Of the 68 teams that competed in the NCAA Tournament back in March, it’s possible none of them got off to a worse start this following season than Iowa State.
With four starters to replace from last year’s 24-win, Big 12 tourney championship team, the Cyclones opened with a 0-2 mark. More concerning, they weren’t particularly competitive in a season-opening loss at Missouri, and then got blown out by Wisconsin-Milwaukee at beloved Hilton Coliseum, an embarrassing result for a program so known for its home court advantage.
Fast forward nearly a month, and it could be said that from the beginning of the season to now, no team has shown more growth than Iowa State. Since those two losses, the Cyclones have won six straight games, the most recent coming Thursday night with a 84-78 victory over Iowa in the teams’ annual heated and always entertaining rivalry game.
Iowa State was the better team in the second half, responding after trailing by five at halftime and fending off numerous Hawkeye challenges late. The Cyclones were out-rebounded a whopping 53-31 and surrendered 11 Iowa three-pointers, but also scored 28 big points off 18 Iowa turnovers and got big offensive performances again that have become the norm of late, but were anything but early this season.
We opined in our first notebook of the season just after the opening weekend of games about Iowa State being a team in search of an offensive identity. The Cyclones have found one, mainly in the form of Nick Weiler-Babb.
Coach Steve Prohm notably gave the reins of the offense to Weiler-Babb after that second game, and since then he has averaged 14.3 points and an incredible 9.5 assists per game, including four straight games now with at least 10+ dimes. With Weiler-Babb picking up the team, Donovan Jackson and Lindell Wigginton are both averaging better than 16 points per game. Wigginton had 24 against Iowa
It’s incredible to think Weiler-Babb wasn’t much of a factor last year for the Cyclones despite averaging 16.5 minutes per game. His averages of 4.0 points and 1.6 assists gave little indication of a player ready to jolt an offense to life this year. The 6-foot-5 junior is delivering a big-time step-up performance for a team that sorely needed it.
Growing pains were to be expected for ISU after losing so many key players, and who carried especially heavy loads. Credit a young team for working hard to get through the early struggles, and Prohm for finding the right chemistry to fix some of those early issues.
It should be noted that none of Iowa State’s six wins are overly impressive. Iowa (4-6 now) has been a disappointment-even as it competed well on the road Thursday-and even a win over Boise State in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off title game comes with something of an asterisk as Broncos star Chandler Hutchison left the game early due to injury. Regardless, the Cyclones have clearly found something, and at the very least they will be dangerous in the Big 12. Several weeks ago that looked like a near impossibility.
Side Dishes:
- Ironically, the Cy-Hawk Series game probably was the second-best game of the night in the state of Iowa, in terms of pure quality of teams and certainly in terms of contrast of styles. Northern Iowa and Texas-Arlington both have made noise early this season, and in some genius scheduling they met in Cedar Falls for a dandy with UNI rallying for a 62-58 win. This was a fantastic chess match, one won first by the homestanding Panthers-who controlled the game’s tempo-and then when they revived late for one impressive win. UTA appeared in control in the second half with a 50-43 lead after an effective switch to a zone defense, but UNI came back from the brink with a 16-2 run with Isaiah Brown, Spencer Haldeman and Juwan McCloud all hitting huge shots. Klint Carlson scored 24 for the Panthers, who shot 11 of 24 from three-point range and are starting to display some depth and balance, with Haldeman scoring 10 off the bench and Wyatt Lohaus playing for the first time this season, returning from a toe injury. For UT Arlington, this will sting as one that got away, but the Mavs again impressed (Erick Neal had 14 points and seven assists and Johnny Hamilton had 15 rebounds). This sure looked like two NCAA Tournament teams squaring off.
- Purdue knocked Valparaiso from the ranks of unbeaten teams, putting an 80-50 thumping on the Crusaders. The Boilermakers were excellent-on point defensively, effective offensively, took advantage of numerous Valpo turnovers (18) and chucks late in possessions (thanks for nothing, :30 shot clock) and looked every bit like the top-20 team they may not have in the Battle 4 Atlantis but should shake out to be this year. (They did also benefit from some serious Big Ten home cooking, to the tune of a 23-9 foul differential…not that it affected the outcome of this one in any meaningful way, but still…good grief). The Crusaders clearly did not handle the moment well, shot 33% and had an unsightly four assists on 20 made shots, a number that strongly suggests there was a lot they could’ve done better offensively, to be polite. Valpo is still a young team, it must be noted, and this will serve as a learning experience. The Crusaders can take comfort, though, in how one of their new Missouri Valley Conference rivals handled its first loss recently. Loyola (Ill.) was ripped by Boise State by 34 points last week-and eight days later won at Florida.
- Drexel edged La Salle 72-70 in the Explorers’ Tom Gola Arena as Zach Spiker continues to do an excellent job with the Dragons. Kurk Lee (23 points) and Sammy Mojica (19) both played all 40 minutes and Drexel never trailed, winning with an imperfect (18 turnovers) but overall impressive performance (52.9% shooting, 8-for-13 from three-point range, 41-27 rebounding advantage).
- Georgetown improved to 7-0 with an 81-67 victory over Howard. The Hoyas moved back into an unofficial tie for first place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference at 3-0 with fellow D.C. school George Washington…
- Big Ten teams winning included Maryland routing Ohio 87-62 and Rutgers holding off New Jersey Tech 73-64. Score only.
- Hartford trailed Quinnipiac by three with less than 30 seconds left but got a layup, a turnover and an ensuing three-point play for a 77-75 win to stun the Bobcats, who have lost some real heartbreakers this year.
- Fantastic news: South Carolina State guard Ty Solomon was released from the hospital on Thursday to go home to his family in Charleston, S.C. Solomon collapsed and went into cardiac arrest during the Bulldogs’ game against North Carolina State on Saturday, revived by the incredible work of paramedics and S.C. State athletic trainer Tyler Long. His basketball future is uncertain at this time, but that is a secondary concern to his health. Solomon did get to make a surprise visit with to his teammates Thursday, and the Bulldogs defeated NCAA Division II Brevard (N.C.) 93-65.
Tonight’s Menu:
- The big event of the night is a tripleheader at the Staples Center in Los Angeles-dubbed the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic-with a total of four ranked teams on hand. It opens with a St. John’s team that has been excellent on defense (36.1% defensive FG%) going against Arizona State’s red-hot offense, averaging 92.1 ppg and hitting 53.1% from the floor (8 p.m., Pac-12 Network if you’re one of the few who get it). They’re followed by what promises to be an up-and-down contest between Oklahoma and USC (10:30 p.m., ESPN2), and the nightcap may be the best yet with Nevada against unbeaten TCU (1 a.m., ESPNU).
- Army is off to a 5-3 start and takes a shot at Wake Forest, which has rebounded from a yucky start to win four straight.
- Quietly a better game than most would think, Boston University goes south to take on Bethune-Cookman. Both should be challengers in their respective conferences.
- Colorado State continues a challenging non-conference schedule with a trip to Oregon (10 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
Have a great Friday. 16 shopping days left until Christmas.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
Email: [email protected]
