Three takeaways: Opposing big men, turnovers, off night for Wigginton, injuries

Head coach Steve Prohm discusses a play with Lindell Wigginton, guard, during the men’s basketball game against Alcorn State on Dec. 10 at Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones won 78-58.

Brian Mozey

It was another tough night at Hilton Coliseum as the Iowa State men’s basketball team lost its second straight game. Also, it brought Iowa State’s record to 9-4 on the season and, more importantly, brought its Big 12 record to 0-2.

Here are the three takeaways from tonight’s 74-70 overtime loss to Texas.

Another big man has a big night

Kansas State’s Dean Wade had a dominant performance against Iowa State last Friday night at Hilton Coliseum. The Wildcats used Wade’s 34 points to control the game and finish with a 91-75 win over the Cyclones.

A similar situation happened Monday night as Texas used one of its big men to grab the close win against Iowa State. The Longhorns utilized junior forward Dylan Osetkowski as he had a big first half with 14 points and ended the night with 25 points.

These two opposing players didn’t create their points in the paint, but rather behind the 3-point line. Wade went 6-for-8 behind the arc on Friday night and Osetkowski went 7-for-13 from the 3-point line tonight.

The reason behind these two players’ successes is due to poor Iowa State defense on the pick-and-roll. On a pick-and-roll, one of the players on defense needs to get in front of the pick and protect the 3-point line from the open opportunities.

Iowa State hasn’t done that and allows the opposing team open shots from its big men to take advantage and create a rhythm at the beginning of the game.

“[The 3-point defense] was terrible the other night [against Kansas State],” said coach Steve Prohm. “We didn’t get up to the ball. You still got to get back to the ball.”

That’ll be one thing Prohm will focus on for the upcoming game against Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon.

Turnovers minimized

Iowa State had 13 turnovers against Kansas State on Friday night and Prohm said he wanted to make that number smaller against Texas.

Well, that goal was accomplished.

The Cyclones gave up eight turnovers to a Longhorns team that showed full-court press the majority of the game. That press allowed Texas to trap players in the corners of the court and hurt Iowa State’s tempo.

The Cyclones gave up four turnovers in each half with zero turnovers in the overtime minutes. Prohm said he wants Monday’s type of numbers throughout the Big 12 season because it’ll help with the tempo of the game and allowing Iowa State to win a few close games.

“We were just being patient,” said senior guard Donovan Jackson. “We knew the traps were going to come, so we just filled our spots and that’s what limited our turnovers.”

An unusual game by Lindell Wigginton and injury updates

Lindell Wigginton averaged 16.2 points per game before the Texas game tonight and had his lowest scoring game this season against the Longhorns. Wigginton scored four points, but helped the Cyclones with nine defensive rebounds.

This wasn’t the first time Wigginton disappeared from the points category in a game as he scored five points against Maryland Eastern Shore on Dec. 20. He came back against Kansas State though to score 23 points.

Prohm needs consistency out of the freshman guard, especially in Big 12 play when every team is a contender for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Along with Wigginton getting back to his usual game, Prohm said he hopes to have a couple more players returning to the court over the next couple of games. First, Hans Brase should be ready to play against Oklahoma State on Saturday.

Brase rolled his ankle prior to the Maryland Eastern Shore game on Dec. 20 and hadn’t played in the Maryland Eastern Shore or Kansas State games. Tonight, Brase suited up, but never saw any minutes.

“We tried to see if we could get [Hans Brase] ready to go, but I didn’t feel good about it,” Prohm said. “I asked him when he came over to the bench [tonight] right before the starting lineup… and he said he couldn’t do it.”

Prohm thinks Brase should be ready to play at least limited minutes against Oklahoma State, but that status will become more clear once the Cyclones have a few practices this week.

The other missing player from the lineup is Zoran Talley Jr. as he’s recovering from a stress fracture in his foot. Prohm said tonight that Talley Jr. will start practicing on Wednesday and will likely not be dressed for Saturday’s game against the Cowboys.

Prohm also mentioned that he’s not sure when Talley Jr. will return because he’s missed so much time in practice that he has to learn the new strategies throughout that time.

Currently, Iowa State is playing with eight players, but adding two more to the lineup will not only help with fatigue in Big 12 play, but also gives Prohm more weapons to use throughout a 40-minute game.