Three chances left?
The Game
Iowa State vs. Oklahoma, in Ames
The Time
5:00 PM Central
The Television
ESPN2
The Opponent
The Sooners are on a bit of a roll, winners of seven of eight. But to dampen that fire a bit: If we trust KenPom (and we do), they’re only the sixth-best team in the Big 12. They’re right there with the post-Baylor pack, but they’re not actually in the front of it. In other words: Good team, not as good as recent results indicate. They’ve just gotten some good timing and balanced out their good performances and bad performances such that they’ve won a lot of games by single digits, including one over ISU in Norman that should’ve been a blowout (always fun to use “they should’ve beaten us by more” to knock your team’s opponent).
The Numbers
Vegas has Iowa State an 11.5-point underdog, with the over/under at 143. KenPom gives the Cyclones a 15% chance to win, with a projected final score of 76-65.
What Iowa State Needs to Do
Perimeter defense is a weakness for the visitors, and with Solomon Young’s recent struggles to find the net, I’m more inclined to say ISU should just gun and see how it goes. That’s not to say the Cyclones should take bad shots, but if they can find open looks, they should take them, and they should get some open looks.
On the topic of Young, Iowa State’s big men are going to need to do a good amount defensively. Hope George Conditt can keep the good things going.
