No. 10 Iowa State harbors no secrets about its keys to success.
Battle for rebounds. Dive for 50-50 balls. Apply relentless pressure on defense.
“We’ve got to be the more physical, tougher team,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “When we do that, we’ll beat anybody. … We’re extremely confident in our ability to do that moving forward. Now, we’ve got to earn it every single day.”
That includes Tuesday night, when the Cyclones will tip off against No. 23 BYU in Ames, Iowa. The matchup will be the second-to-last game of the Big 12 Conference regular season for both teams.
Iowa State (22-7, 12-6) is coming off a dominant 84-67 win over then-No. 22 Arizona on Saturday night. The victory snapped a two-game skid for the Cyclones, who are tied with BYU (21-8, 12-6) for fourth place in the conference.
Otzelberger praised his team for its tenacity in recent practices. It is something he wants to see continue heading into the contest against BYU.
“When you have the mentality and the toughness and the mindset — and you’re willing to put that competitive spirit on the line for everything you do in practice — it’s going to carry over if that’s the only thing that you know,” Otzelberger said. “I think those guys played the way that they practiced (in the win over Arizona). The carry-over was there.”
BYU brings a six-game winning streak and also plenty of confidence into Tuesday’s nationally televised matchup. The Cougars have won four of their past six games by double digits, including a 77-56 victory Saturday over West Virginia in their most recent contest.
BYU coach Kevin Young praised his team for its versatility during its late-season surge.
“We’re not a one-trick pony,” he said. “We don’t have to rely on one way of scoring or one guy to score — or one guy to stop the other team’s best player. I personally have gained a lot of confidence in our entire roster.
“It makes my job harder, honestly, because I’ve got to try not to screw it up and play the right guys at the right time. Our guys have to have patience and humility and a winning attitude in order to let me do that, and this group has. That’s something I definitely don’t take for granted.”
Richie Saunders leads BYU with an average of 15.8 points per game on 52.1 percent shooting from the field, including 44 percent from 3-point range. Egor Demin is averaging 10.7 points and a team-high 5.7 assists, and Trevin Knell ranks third with 9.4 points per game.
Iowa State’s top scorer is Curtis Jones, who averages 16.8 points on 42.8 percent shooting from the floor and 36.9 percent from long distance. Keshon Gilbert is second at 13.8 points per game, and Joshua Jefferson adds 12.5 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game.
The Cyclones are 15-1 at home this season, and BYU is 5-5 on the road.
Tuesday will mark the ninth all-time meeting between the programs. Iowa State leads the series 7-1, including a 68-63 win in the most recent showdown at home last March.
–Field Level Media
