Iowa State basketball prediction: 3 things to watch when Cyclones play at Kansas State

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Kansas State snapped Iowa State basketball’s 29-game winning streak at Hilton Coliseum back in February, and now the Cyclones will have an opportunity to spoil the Wildcats’ senior night in Saturday’s rematch.

The Wildcats upset the Cyclones, 80-61, on Feb. 1. It was their first road win of the season. They’ll meet again at Bramlage Coliseum in the regular-season finale.

Iowa State (22-8, 12-7 Big 12 Conference) is coming off of a tough 88-85 loss to BYU that went to double-overtime. The Cyclones rallied from a 21-point deficit with 13:16 remaining in the second half, but they were unable to complete the comeback. They have now lost three of their last four games.

Kansas State (15-15, 9-10) grinded out a 54-49 road win against Cincinnati on Wednesday night. The Wildcats enter Saturday’s game with back-to-back wins.

Tip-off is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. CT. The game will also be available on CBS.

Here are three things to watch for on Saturday:

Iowa State’s response to Tuesday’s BYU loss, especially on the rebounding front

There were many takeaways from the Cyclones’ wild double-overtime loss to BYU. One negative aspect that jumped off the stat sheet and was apparent throughout the game was the rebounding margin. The Cougars owned the glass, outrebounding the Cyclones 52-24.

Iowa State was fortunate that BYU only had nine second-chance points on 17 offensive rebounds. The team sacrificed some size to use a small-ball lineup to come back, a 28-rebound margin was baffling.

BYU, however, is a solid rebounding team, ranking 74th in the entire country in offensive rebounding rate and top 10 on the defensive glass.

Iowa State guards Tamin Lipsey (3) and Nate Heise (0) put pressure on Kansas State’s Dug McDaniel (0) during a game on Feb 1. The two teams meet again on Saturday.

Kansas State is far from that. The Wildcats enter Saturday ranked 190th in offensive rebounding rate and 300th for defensive rebounding, according to KenPom.

That’s what makes the fact that the Wildcats bullied the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/iowa-state-basketball-prediction-3-201909715.html

Author : The Des Moines Register

Publish date : 2025-03-06 20:19:00

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