Balance and depth are two of the key elements necessary for making an NCAA Final Four run. The 2000-01 ISU Cyclones just happen to have both of those ingredients in their frontcourt this season with bigmen Martin Rancik, Paul Shirley, Richard Evans and Tyray Pearson manning the post. The group is composed of three experienced seniors [Rancik, Shirley and Evans] and a talented junior college transfer [Pearson], all of whom are competing for the right to show Cyclone fans what they can do to help the team defend its Big 12 title. There may not be enough minutes to go around, but as one Cyclone puts it, that’s okay.”All four of us are out there for basically the same purpose,” Rancik said. “To play tough defense without fouls, rebound the ball and try to be aggressive, but also be smart [with the ball].”Rancik leads the group in scoring with a 13.5 ppg average, while Shirley’s 7.0 rpg is tops in the ISU lineup. Shirley also scores 10.7 ppg on average.Evans, whose role on the team has grown consistently larger throughout the season, is contributing 3.5 rpg in 11.5 mpg. Pearson, whose main problem seems to be avoiding foul trouble, is one of the most productive per minute players in the country with his 8.4 ppg and 4.8 rpg average in just 15.4 minutes of action per contest.”I think they’ve taught me how to play through some things and keep playing hard,” Pearson said of the three seniors. “I think I’ve also learned to play better defensively by going up against those guys every day.”Cyclone fans have seen ISU head coach Larry Eustachy rotate the four post players almost interchangeably all season. Evans explains why this is so — “when Martin’s playing bad you can throw Tyray in there. And then if Tyray’s playing good and Paul’s playing bad, you can take him out and put Martin back in and see if they can play good together. I just come in and play and give it all I’ve got, and if I’m playing good I’ll stay in.””Your role varies through each game, each practice and also depends on how hard you’ve been working that week,” Evans said.

No matter what combination is on the court, they all seem to be working – given that Iowa State is second in the nation and first in the Big 12 in rebounding margin at +10.4 rpg. The post’s defense rebounding may also be more tenacious than last year’s team that featured NBA Lottery Pick Marcus Fizer in the middle. Iowa State currently ranks first in the Big 12 in rebounding defense at 31.9 rpg.”Marcus was such a phenomenal scorer, but Martin’s a pretty good scorer too,” Shirley said. “It’s the big thing right now for everyone to try and compare us to last year, but you can’t really do that. It’s just different [from last season], but we’ve tried to use the same mentality of playing hard all the time and trying to outwork the opponent.”The myriad of lineups featuring ISU’s bigmen this season have played complementary to the different styles of guards Jamaal Tinsley and Kantrail Horton. When Tinsley’s at the point, Eustachy can insert a fastbreak attack, and when Horton is handling the ball he can go with a more conservative lineup.”It’s a big luxury,” Eustachy said. “Because of the depth, Tyray hasn’t been able to get the minutes I thought he’d get, but that’s real positive. It’s nice to have four guys because of the emphasis on fouling [this year by the NCAA]. We’ve been able to rotate four guys in and out of there, so it’s a real strength. Any time you have depth anywhere it’s a strength.”Throughout all their success this season, the common theme has still been improvement. None of the players are satisfied with what they’ve accomplished up until now, and they plan on fine-tuning just a few more things before they gear up for a run at the Final Four.”I think we still need to improve on our rebounding because we do struggle at times,” Shirley said. “And going into these last games we have to maintain our focus in stopping the opposing team.””I think we have a good shot at [the Final Four] if we keep working in practice every day and keep getting better,” Pearson said. “If we do that, I think we have a good shot to compete against anybody.”Sitting atop the Big 12 standings, No. 7 Iowa State will take a shot at its ninth consecutive win and 33rd straight victory at home against No. 6 Kansas Saturday at noon. The game is a rematch of the Feb. 5 contest that saw the Cyclones defeat the Jayhawks 79-77 in Lawrence. Saturday’s game will air before a national television audience on CBS.