Iowa State Basketball is Back!
TJ Otzelberger has got these boys on a roll.
For the first time since 2018, the Clones have opened up conference play, in basketball, 2-0. Starting on New Years Eve, they gave Baylor a shellacking, beating them 77-62. Four days later, they traveled to Norman Oklahoma and beat the Sooners in a nail biter with the final score being 63-60. Both games can be characterized by one singular aspect, defense. TJ Otzelberger has got these boys playing lockdown defense, and it is absolutely working. In both games, Iowa State’s defense has held both teams to a combined 26.5% three point percentage. This is bone chilling, stifling defense. However it is a very situational gameplan. And the most situational player on this Iowa State squad is Caleb Grill.
Grill scores 20 as #25 Iowa State beats Oklahoma 63-30.
Both games, Grill shot five for nine from the arc. That’s an impressive 55% three point shooting mark. You almost need to rely on that type of volume from Caleb night in and night out. You can expect these Cyclones to play impressive defense every game, however, if our shooters are not connecting from deep then the B12 offense is gonna take advantage of that.
At this point, Iowa State is more than capable in beating the Baylor’s and TCU’s of the world, but if they don’t have a high volume scorer who can pour in 20+ a game, then teams like Kansas and Texas will have them for lunch. With that being said, Iowa State has two games before they play Kansas and Texas back to back. Kansas will be in Lawrence and Texas will be played in Hilton. If I was an optimist, I’d say we lose to Kansas and win a nail biter against Texas. If I was a realist, I would say, I have no clue what is going to happen. After all, this is the same TJ led team that went to the sweet sixteen last year. So expect that you cannot expect anything.
