Iowa Preview – Yahoo Sports

On Thursday night, the Iowa Hawkeyes travel to Ames to take on the number 4 ranked Iowa State Cyclones. The Cyclones are coming off one of the greatest wins in school history, smacking former number 1 ranked Purdue at Mackey Arena in front of a stunned national audience and crowd. Iowa State has climbed to number 2 on KenPom and sport the 5th best offense and 2nd best defense. They have been flat out dominant, winning by an average score of 95 to 65, and don’t appear to have any holes as of this point in the year.

Iowa State has been good, if not great, over the last few seasons under TJ Otzelberger. They climbed into the top 5 last year before ultimately sliding in the middle to late portion of conference play. They went to the Sweet Sixteen the prior year and have belonged in the top 15 for most of the last few years.

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So then why has this year felt so different? Well, Iowa State’s offense is doing something that fans have not seen in quite some time – They are shooting the leather off the basketball. The Cyclones are a SCORCHING 43.8% from behind the 3-point line through 9 games, which is easily the best percentage since the 2017 season where guys with the last names of Thomas, Mitrou-Long, Morris, and Jackson were taking potshots at the rim from deep.

Part of the reason that Iowa State has been so great from behind the arc this season is partly because I believe their shot selection has greatly improved. For example, below are two charts that summarize Iowa State’s shooting by location on the floor. In the left chart, you’ll see that Iowa State is shooting 50% from behind the 3-point line in the corners and 41.7% above the break. The chart on the right indicates the frequency of shot type by zone, meaning that 9.4% of the time, Iowa State shoots a corner 3.

The Cyclones are not only getting great shots, they’re taking the right one’s in the right areas. The NCAA average frequency for shots around the rim is 31.4%. Iowa State is an entire 5…

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Publish date : 2025-12-09 23:30:00

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