AMES – Iowa State returns to Hilton Coliseum on Wednesday to play Kansas, resuming its Big 12 conference schedule after a week-long break.
With a seven-day break from school and practice to enjoy the holidays, the Cyclones’ much-needed pause came at a crucial time for the team to regroup and strengthen their skills and love for the game.
“It was a nice little reset. Get home with the people you love and see people you haven’t seen in a while,” sophomore forward Addy Brown said. “It’s always great to just relax and get that breakaway and you’re going to be more excited to get back and I think that has kinda shown in our last few practices. The energy is really high and everybody is excited to be back.”
Despite the team being back in Ames, the Cyclones still have time off from school. With the continued education break, Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly emphasized to the team that during this break, they are to function as full-time professional basketball players. Encouraging their free time to improve their skills and contribute to the team’s overall success.
“As I have told them, this is the only time you are really like a pro, you’re out of school and you can spend the extra minutes in the gym,” Fennelly said.
With the extra time on the court, Fennelly has utilized practice to strengthen 3-point shooting and the team’s defense to better prepare for the upcoming Big 12 Conference games.
“Defense, just really focusing on defense,” junior guard/forward Sydney Harris said. “We have been running a little bit more for fouls and [Fennelly] always says ‘You can’t guard them at the free-throw line.’ A couple of games recently we have kinda been bailing teams out and stuff, so that’s really the main thing we have been focusing on.”
“I told our team when we came back from Christmas there are a couple specific things we had to work on and one of them was the shot selection,” Fennelly said. “There’s a difference between open and getting a better shot and there’s a difference between passing up a shot you should take and that’s a really fine line to walk.”
Like the Cyclones, the Jayhawks have used their break to regroup after suffering a previous loss. During its Big 12 Conference opener, Kansas was handed its second loss of the season after an 86-66 defeat on its home court to Baylor.
Leading the Jayhawks is sophomore guard S’Mya Nichols, who contributed a team-high 25 points during her 35 minutes of play against the Bears. Nichols holds a season-high of 257 points and 59 assists, averaging 21.4 points per game.
“S’Mya Nichols is a pro. If you look at her numbers and minutes, it is staggering to see a kid that leads their team in basically everything; scoring, rebounding, free throw attempts, assists,” Fennelly said. “She has the ball in her hands a lot and she is really really good at what she does.”
Despite holding a one-game winning streak over the Cyclones from their last meeting in January last season, Iowa State is aware of the challenges that may come across with Kansas’ strong defense and its ability to guard sophomore center Audi Crooks.
“The thing with them that I have always been impressed with is they are never going to beat themselves, ever,” Fennelly said. “The pace is going to be the way they want to play, they are going to do their stuff, they are going to make it hard to score and that’s the kind of team they have there, forever. I think it’s just another year of the same thing Kansas does year in, year out.”
In hopes of starting the new year strong, Iowa State will face Kansas at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Hilton Coliseum. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
