As the ISU men’s basketball team prepares to play Colorado tonight

As the ISU men’s basketball team prepares to play Colorado tonight in Boulder, Colo., they will have something no other team in the Big 12 has – the Big 12 Player of the Week.

Senior Tyray Pearson averaged 29 points and 10.5 rebounds against two ranked opponents last week to earn the honor. His performances included a bittersweet career-high 30 points in the Cyclone 69-66 loss to No. 6 Oklahoma State on Saturday.

Pearson and company bring an all-time winning record of 67-59 against Colorado as they play in their second conference road game of the season. A win tonight would mark the Cyclone second straight win on Colorado’s home court.

Iowa State is 9-8 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12. The Buffaloes have an overall record of 9-4 but are winless in Big 12 play, losing to Kansas and Nebraska.

Colorado may pose some defensive difficulties for Iowa State because the Buffaloes have no main offensive threat and no one for the Cyclones to focus on. In fact, eight players are averaging between 7.8 and 12.8 points for the team.

Freshman David Harrison, a seven-foot center, is leading the Buffaloes with 12.8 points. His senior brother, D.J., brings 10.3 points a game and 6.8 rebounds.

As other teams begin to realize the damage Pearson is doing against his opponents, Iowa State will look to spread the ball more as they did much of last season with Jaamal Tinsley leading the offense.

“[Tinsley] did one thing real well, once he got the ball he just made plays,” said ISU guard Shane Power. “Jake and myself are working on that after practice, just being able to make moves and get your own shot. And we’re getting better at it.”

But if defenses do continue to contain sharp shooter Sullivan, head coach Larry Eustachy is looking to him to make an impact in other areas.

“If he never made a basket, he can do a lot to help us win games by guarding, defending, rebounding,” Eustachy said.

Two areas Eustachy has been focusing on all year are rebounding and defense. In 17 games this season, the Cyclones have only been out-rebounded five times.

“It’s a group of guys that are the best I’ve ever been around,” Eustachy said of his young team. “We’ve got to get better for competitive athletics. We’re trying to get them tougher and more competitive.”

As far as Big 12 play is concerned, Iowa State has been playing their best basketball of the season. But being able to finish games is still one of Eustachy’s biggest concerns.

“We are in the real infant stages where we can get to the NCAA tournament time and time again. They’ve done it once, three times in a row. That’s the longest streak they have,” Eustachy said. “During this infant odyssey, we’ll have a lot of growing pains.”