Cyclone Men's Basketball Preview: We're Talkin' Arizona
Last time out? Well, it wasn’t pretty, to say the least. Iowa State lost to Oklahoma State 68-74 in one of the more frustrating games of the season. From the start it felt like Iowa State was going to be in a war all game. The Cyclones turned the ball over 18 times and the Cowboys scored 24 points off those turnovers. Jefferson led the Cyclones with 17 points, 8 rebounds, and five assists. A pretty good game if you ignore the 7 (!!) turnovers he had. Post play was a real problem on Tuesday. Chatfield and Jackson couldn’t stay out of trouble and they let Abou Ousmane, Oklahoma State’s center go for 25 points.
Arizona hasn’t really dropped off since they took down the Cyclones on Love’s buzzer-beater. Since Feb. 11, they 2-3 yet the box scores don’t show the truth. The loss to Kansas State was strange, but they led Houston all game to blow the lead late at home. Their next loss was also at home on a questionable call going to BYU to give them the victory. So recently the Wildcats have stubbled but they have been in very game they have played in that stretch. Their last game against Utah, Caleb Love dropped 23 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, while knocking down 6 three-pointers.
I’m going to throw 3 players your way to keep your eye on. First, it’s Anthony Dell’Orso, Arizona’s sharpshooter. He didn't make a shot in their first game against Iowa State while going 0-3 from deep. He is a very inconsistent shooter and it’s important to not let him get going early. Next is Tobe Awake, who has his second-best game this season last time they played. 17 points and 12 rebounds while destroying the Cyclones on the offensive glass. Iowa State NEEDS to be able to get a body on him tomorrow. The last guy is Caleb Love and I don’t need to explain much. How about we just don’t let him shoot a half-courter this time? Sound good?
No. 9 Iowa State (21-7, 11-6 Big 12) vs. Arizona (19-9, 13-4 Big 12)
Hilton Coliseum, Ames, IA
Saturday, March. 1, 2025 – 8 p.m. CT
ESPN // Jon Sciambi (PxP) and Fran Fraschilla (Analyst)
