Iowa State’s two-point win at Cincinnati was one of the Cyclones’ best non-conference games a season ago. Tonight, the Bearcats pay a return visit to Hilton Coliseum to take on No. 19 ISU.
Both teams are 5-1 on the season. Iowa State is coming off its first and only loss of the season, a 73-71 setback to then-No. 11 Gonzaga in the championship game of the Advocare Invitational in Orlando, Fla. I-State also picked up a quality high-major win in the semifinal round of that tourney, knocking off Miami of the ACC by a 73-56 count.
The only blemish on Cinci’s record so far is a 76-71 loss to Rhode Island, ranked No. 21 when the teams played on a neutral court on Nov. 19. Cincinnati also has a 71-50 high-major win over Penn State of the Big 12.
Sophomore wing Jacob Evans is the Bearcats’ leading scorer through six games this season, averaging 17.8 points per game. Evans came off the bench to play 26 minutes and score 14 points when the schools played year.
Cincinnati’s second-leading scorer is a familiar name to Iowa State basketball recruitniks – junior forward Kyle Washington. The Cyclones were heavily involved with the Twin Cities product before he ultimately decided to sign with North Carolina State. Washington played two years at NC State, then sat out last season as a transfer to Cinci. He is scoring 16.8 points per game for the Bearcats and is also UC’s leading rebounder at 9.3 per game.
Senior guard Troy Caupain was Cincinnati’s leading scorer in last season’s game vs. Iowa State with 18 points. He’s averaging 9.5 points per game so far this season and also dishing out also five assists a game.
The Bearcats shoot 48.6 percent from the field overall, including 31.6 percent from three-point range. UC is a 65.6 percent free throw shooting team six games into the season. Cincinnati is +4.4 in rebounding margin and has a 1.55-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Defensively, Cinci has held opponents to 38.1 percent shooting from the field overall and 30.1 percent from three-point range. The Bearcats’ six opponents have had a combined 0.64-to-1 assists-to-turnover ratio.
Cincinnati is averaging 76.8 points per game and allowing 59.2.
Iowa State’s six-game block to start the season has included a little bit of everything. The Cyclones have broken the 100-point mark on two occasions against low-major opponents tailor-made for such. That included a school-record 130 points against the Citadel. ISU has scored exactly 73 points in its other three victories, winning by 18 and 16 against Mount St. Mary’s and Miami, respectively, while squeaking out a two-point win over Indiana State.
Scoring balance has been a defining feature of I-State’s offensive attack so far this season and probably will be so for the rest of the winter. Four Cyclones are averaging in double figures, led by Monte Morris at 16 points per game. Naz Mitrou-Long is averaging 15.2 points per game with Deonte Burton at 14 and Matt Thomas at 11.5.
Iowa State is still trying to find its shooting range, especially from beyond the three-point line. ISU is shooting a pedestrian 33.3 percent from behind the arc with only Morris above 40 percent (42.9%) among the starters and top reserves. The Cyclones are shooting 47.5 percent overall from the field. And free throw struggles have been an issue for I-State as well as it’s shooting just 63.5 percent from the line as a team.
The Cyclones are +11.3 in rebounding margin with Burton leading the way at 8.5 points per game. Iowa State’s guard rebounding has been a strength early in the year: Mitrou-Long averages over six boards per game and Morris is at just under six.
ISU’s assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.58-to-1 with Morris already at a tight 5.57-to-1.
Iowa State’s opponents have shot 35.6 percent from the floor and 34.1 from three-point range, numbers that support the perception that the Cyclones are an improved defensive team so far this season. Opponents’ assist-to-turnover ratio is 0.79-to-1.
The Cyclones scored 81 points against Cincinnati last season and only 41 of those points are back this year. Georges Niang led ISU with 24 points in that win and Abdul Nader scored 11 with Jameel McKay chipping in five. Morris scored 16 for I-State with Thomas adding 13 and Burton 12.
Iowa State is 2-3 all-time against Cincinnati and the schools have never played in Ames. The Cyclones won a memorable 67-66 game against the Bearcats in the second round of the 1997 NCAA tournament in a game played in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Cinci beat ISU in three Thanksgiving holiday tournaments in 1998, 1999 and 2012 in Alaska, Hawaii and Las Vegas, respectively. And Iowa State prevailed in the only previous regular-season meeting last Dec. 22.
What happens this year? The Cyclones start to zero in from three-point range and defend well enough to come out on top, 77-70.
