AMES — Following a season-high 108 points in its 25-point victory over UCF, No. 3 Iowa State is set to make a trip out west to face new Big 12 foes in Arizona State and Arizona.
The Cyclones sit at an impressive 16-2 record overall and 6-1 in the Big 12, but this weekend’s road trip could say a lot about them.
Winning on the road, especially in the Big 12, is hard, and Iowa State is no stranger to this challenge. Both of its losses; a two-point neutral-site loss to now-No. 1 Auburn and a seven-point road loss to West Virginia, have come away from Hilton Coliseum.
Even the Cyclones’ victories away from home haven’t been easy. They have found themselves on the brink of defeat in multiple road games that they ended up pulling out at the end, including a come-from-behind victory over Iowa and an overtime win against Texas Tech.
This will be the first time this season that Iowa State will play two true road games in a row, and they will have to perform much better on the road if they want to make it back to Ames unscathed.
Up first on the schedule is Arizona State.
The programs have met just three times, the last meeting being in 1987, with Iowa State winning two out of three.
The Sun Devils have had a rocky first half of the season. They sit at 11-7 overall and 2-5 in the Big 12, but in their last game they did something that Iowa State couldn’t, and that was beat West Virginia in Morgantown.
“They play hard, they compete on the glass, they’ll get up and down in transition,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “They really can score in spurts. They’ve got ability to get it going quick and they’ve got some gifted personnel.”
Arizona State has five players that average 10 or more points per game. The leading scorer is senior guard BJ Freeman who averages 13.2 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game.
Another player to look out for is freshman forward Jayden Quaintance. Quaintance averages 10.3 points per game and leads the team with 8.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game.
The freshman has really come on as of late. Over his last three games, Quaintance is averaging 16.7 points, 11 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game, while shooting 65.4% from the field.
“Playing in the Big 12 it seems like you’re going against one of those dudes that can protect the rim at a high level,” junior guard Tamin Lipsey said. “I think he’s averaging three blocks a game, so it’s just being smart when you get in there with the ball.”
To some, it might be easy to look past Saturday’s game against a struggling Arizona State team and look ahead to Monday’s game against Arizona, but the Cyclones know they can’t afford to do that.
“I’d say we’re looking at this like, let’s win this game Saturday,” Otzelberger said. “Let’s focus everything on Saturday and we’ll worry about anything beyond that when we get to that point.”
That being said, the marquee matchup of Iowa State’s road trip is Monday night’s matchup against Arizona.
The programs have met seven times, with the last meeting coming in 2018. Iowa State trails 3-4 in the series.
The preseason then-No. 10 Wildcats struggled during non-conference play, going 6-5 against a tough schedule, which saw them tumble completely out of the AP Top 25.
However, Arizona has bounced back since the start of its Big 12 schedule.
The Wildcats are 6-1 in conference play, tied with Iowa State for second place in the Big 12, including wins over Baylor, West Virginia and Cincinnati.
Arizona’s lone conference loss was a 70-54 defeat to Texas Tech on the road.
On the court, the Wildcats are led by senior guard Caleb Love. Love averages 15.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.
Fellow guards Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis also score in double figures, averaging 11.7 and 10 points per game respectively.
However, Arizona’s biggest weapon may not be on the court. It might be in the crowd.
Arizona is 8-1 in its home, McKale Memorial Center, with the lone loss coming to now-No. 2 Duke and the home success goes much further than just this season.
The Wildcats are 55-5 at home over the last three-and-a-half seasons and haven’t lost more than two games at home in a single season since the 2020-21 season.
Because Arizona is in its first season in the Big 12, most Cyclones, including Otzelberger, have never made the trip to Tucson to take on Arizona.
However, senior center Dishon Jackson played inside McKale Memorial Center during his time at Washington State, and he knows how tough of an environment it can be.
“It’s loud,” Jackson said. “Their fans get rowdy, the red lights, it can be off-putting if you’ve never played in anything like that, but we’ve played a lot of games where the opposing team shows up, so we’re ready.”
The Cyclones are going to have to be ready for Arizona and Arizona State if they want to continue to keep pace in the Big 12 title chase.
The game between Iowa State and Arizona State will tip off at 1 p.m. Saturday from Desert Financial Arena in Tempe. The game will also be streamed live on ESPN+.
The game between Iowa State and Arizona will tip off at 9:30 p.m. Monday from McKale Memorial Center in Tucson. The game will also be broadcast live on ESPN.
