The Hawkeyes go to Ames looking for an unlikely victory against an elite Iowa State team
The Iowa Hawkeyes (8-1, 1-1) head to Hilton Coliseum where they look to avoid the first time in the school’s history where they have lost to Iowa State in the top 4 sports in a single season. Tall task, as the Cyclones (9-0) are currently ranked 4th in both major polls with KenPom slotting them #2 after dismantling Purdue on the road. Iowa will look to improve upon their first road game, last week’s 71-52 loss at Michigan State.
Iowa State Cyclones (9-0, 0-0)
Ames, IA
T.J. Otzelberger (104-45 at Iowa State, 203-108 overall)
How to Watch
Today, 12/11: Iowa at Iowa State
7:00 PM CST, Fox Sports 1 (Kevin Kugler & Miles Simon)
Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, IA
Hawkeye Radio Network
Live Stats (StatBroadcast)
Stat Pack
KenPom ($): +34.39; 2nd (124.6; 6th | 90.2; 2nd)
BartTorvik: 5th (122.1; 10th | 93.9; 7th)
Sports-Ref:
PPG: 94.6 (8th) | 64.6 (20th)
RPG: 35.9 | 30.4
Leaders (via Sports-Ref)
PPG: Milan Momcilovic (18.3), Joshua Jefferson (17.6)
RPG: Jefferson (6.7, 1.8 off), Blake Buchannon (5.7, 3.0 off)
APG: Tamin Lipsey (5.7), Jefferson (5.4)
FG%: Buchanan (67.9%), Killyan Toure (57.7%)
3P%: Momcilovic (53.6%), Jamarion Batemon (47.1%)
Last 5 games
12/6: W at Purdue: 81-58
12/3: W v Alcorn State: 132-68
11/26: W v Syracuse (N): 95-64
11/25: W v Creighton (N): 78-60
11/24: W v St. John’s (N): 83-82
As alluded to before, this is probably toughest game on Iowa’s schedule. If there is a statistic – Iowa State very likely rates highly (the only two “red” stats on their KenPom team sheet is offensive FTA/FGA & FT%). They are great and present a number of issues for this Iowa team. My hunch is that Tavion Banks will get first crack at Joshua Jefferson with Cooper Koch on Milan Momcilovic and there is no place to put Bennett Stirtz on defense to conserve energy given the height of Momcilovic (6’8”).
I think the biggest improvement Iowa can show from the Michigan State game to now is an ability to get Stirtz looks on offense. The only defense Iowa will face with the same rating in the regular season is Michigan’s (currently tops in KenPom). So this is as tough as sledding as it gets. If Stirtz can play up to snuff and Iowa gets enough help elsewhere – probably need 4 or 5 threes from Koch tonight to have a shot – then maybe they’ll have a chance.
But this Iowa State team is an absolute unit. Just keeping it closer than the 19-point margin in East Lansing would demonstrate some amount of improvement from last week.
Category: General Sports
