How ‘bout those Cyclones?
Honestly, I did not expect No. 3 Iowa State to respond the way it did after dropping its first Big 12 conference game at West Virginia.
To be fair, playing in Morgantown has been–and always will be–a tall task for any conference team to play at, but it hurt to see the shooting performance be the way it was.
Going 1-for-17 from 3-point range that led to a season-low 57-point performance on a 43.9% field goal shooting is not a winning formula, to say the least.
While the Mountaineers had their fair share of shooting struggles as well, they found a way to knock down shots when it mattered the most, and that was spearheaded by senior guard Javon Small.
It was no surprise that Small presented a challenge for the Cyclones heading into Saturday’s game, as he was, and currently is, the leading scorer for West Virginia and the entire Big 12 conference.
Despite his 3-point shooting not being the best at a 2-of-7 clip, West Virginia shot 9-of-27 as a whole from deep. Small used his shiftiness and quickness to gash an Iowa State defense that has been boasted as one of the best groups in the country.
Small finished the game with 27 points on 9-of-16 field goal shooting, while going a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Along with the scoring, Small added seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.
But while Small proved to be the biggest problem on one end, the shooting from Iowa State was, again, the biggest downfall of the team.
Credit is due to the Mountaineers’ defense for putting on a show, but it was not fun to watch the Cyclones, who had shot the ball exceptionally well prior to this game, reach such a low as they experienced Saturday.
But to Iowa State’s credit, it did not allow this one loss to create a snowball effect despite dropping one spot in the AP Top 25 poll.
The Cyclones had a quick turnaround by traveling back to Ames to host UCF on Tuesday night, which has had a season of highs and lows, to say the least.
Unfortunately for the Knights, they had to experience a season-best scoring from Iowa State, as it would go on to explode for a season-high 108 points in a 108-83 victory at home.
Those 108 points were scored on 56.3% field goal shooting, 40.9% 3-point shooting and 76% free throw shooting. It was also the most points scored in the head coach T.J. Otzelberger era during Big 12 conference play.
Leading the charge for the Cyclones was junior forward Joshua Jefferson, who has continuously shown to be one of the most versatile forwards not only in the conference, but in the country.
His 30-point performance set a career-high for the Saint Mary’s transfer. He led in scoring and was tied for first in steals with four overall to contribute to a 16-steal night.
The 16 steals tied a season-high for the most steals in a single game and became the highest amount in a conference game for Iowa State this season.
While the game did start a little close, the Cyclones would go on to thrash UCF at home to keep their undefeated home streak alive, which is now at 29 and is 10 consecutive home wins away from tying the Iowa State record for the most consecutive home wins in its history.
This game, in particular, truly showed the character of this Cyclones team, just like their close loss to now-No. 1 Auburn in Hawaii, by being able to shrug off the loss and use it as fuel to collect key wins.
The loss against West Virginia did not waver my faith in this team and it was shown in the response they had against the Knights.
