Iowa State basketball vs. Omaha game preview: 3 things to watch for Cyclones

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After an emotional come-from-behind road win in the Cy-Hawk game, Iowa State basketball returns home for its penultimate non-conference game Sunday afternoon.

The Cyclones (8-1) enter Sunday’s game with a five-game winning streak. They’ll be heavy favorites against visiting Omaha.

Omaha (4-7) will play Northern Iowa on Friday night, before taking on the Cyclones. The Mavericks entered Friday with losses in seven of their last nine games.

Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT. The game will be available on CBS Sports Network.

Here are three things to watch on Sunday:

More: Hines: Iowa State basketball shows its championship potential in comeback over Iowa

Omaha’s Marquel Sutton leads the Mavericks

The 6-foot-8 senior forward was a preseason second-team All-Summit League selection, and he’s lived up to the billing so far.

Sutton is averaging 17.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. A physical, interior-focused forward, he’s shooting 44.4% from the field, but can occasionally take-and-make 3-pointers when left wide open.

He is coming off of back-to-back 20-point games, and he may be the only true dynamic threat for the Cyclones to worry about.

Tony Osburn is another player to keep an eye on. He is averaging 11.8 points per game, while shooting 50.6% and 37.0% from deep.

This leading scoring tandem will try to cover up for a Maverick team that ranks 294th in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom and lies in the bottom-third of the country in numerous team defensive statistical categories.

Iowa State Cyclones guard Nate Heise (0) shoots against the Iowa Hawkeyes Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.

Nate Heise’s continued growth with the Cyclones

The top six of Iowa State’s rotation have been clear-cut since the season started. You can rely on that starting five, with Curtis Jones off the bench, to do their job on both ends of the court.

Although the seventh, eighth and ninth pieces of the rotation were identified as Nate Heise, Brandton Chatfield and true…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/iowa-state-basketball-vs-omaha-203230700.html

Author : The Des Moines Register

Publish date : 2024-12-13 20:32:00

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