Three takeaways from Iowa State’s victory against No. 3 Kansas
February 4, 2017
Iowa State grabbed its first win at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, in over a decade Saturday in a 92-89 victory over No. 3 Kansas in overtime.
Check out the story from the game here.
Here are three additional takeaways.
Solomon Young gets big minutes
With an already noticeable deficit at the center positon, the Cyclones entered Saturday’s game down a man.
Forward Darrell Bowie didn’t make the trip to Lawrence because he didn’t meet “program standards,” coach Steve Prohm said Thursday. That meant someone had to step up.
Forward Merrill Holden drew the start, but he fell into early foul trouble. From then on, freshman Solomon Young made his mark.
Young played a career-high 32 minutes. His previous high was four minutes against Oklahoma. Although his stats didn’t pop off the sheet — he had one point with six rebounds — his defensive prowess and abilty down low gave Iowa State what it needed.
“He was great,” Prohm said. “His toughness level was great. Six rebounds in 32 minutes. Maybe could’ve got a couple of more. But he just competed out there physically… He’s a guy that should be fully cemented in the rotation now. He was terrific today. That was the opportunity he was waiting for.”
Young said he was prepared for whatever role he was asked to play.
“I wasn’t sure how much I was going to play,” Young said. “It depends on what the guys in the frontcourt are doing. So I’ve got to stay ready. I play 32 minutes and it might be six minutes the next game. I’ve just got to prepare.”
Iowa State breaks single-game 3-point record
The Cyclones have been known as a proficient 3-point shooting team, but they took it to another level against Kansas.
Iowa State snapped its single-game 3-point record with 18 threes Saturday, one more than the previous mark. The Cyclones bucketed six long balls in the first half and 10 in the second half, then added two more in overtime. Overall, Iowa State put up 34 3-point attempts in the game.
Deonte Burton, who had 26 points, chipped in a game-high seven 3-pointers on 7-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Naz Mitrou-Long went 6-for-11 from 3-point range.
Iowa State found all of this success without its best 3-point shooter, Matt Thomas, on his game. He finished the night 0-for-5 from beyond the arc.
“I came in expecting to reverse the ball side to side three times,” Prohm said. “I thought we did that. And I thought we missed a lot of good looks early. When we’re shooting the three well, it gives us the best chance to win. Because we are who we are. We’re a perimeter team.”
Time for Texas already?
While the Cyclones will undoubtedtly celebrate this victory for the forseeable future — and deservedly so — they will know have to turn their attention to their next opponent in a hurry.
Iowa State will travel to Austin, Texas, on Tuesday to take on the Longhorns, who the Cyclones beat the first time around at Hilton Coliseum in early January.
Prohm said the team had an “awful” practice Friday, but Saturday’s results were obviously not reflective of that statement.
Either way, the Cyclones will need to come back to reality soon enough.
“We will enjoy it for the rest of the day, but as soon as the film rolls on Texas, you’ve got to leave it behind,” Mitrou-Long said. “It is a special moment. With that being said, this league is not easy. Now we have a huge target on our backs in this league and Texas is going to want to get a signature win.”
But this one will feel good for the team being.
“I don’t know if it’s a statement,” Prohm said. “This program has been a high-level program since Fred’s second year here… It’s probably one of the best road wins this program’s had. This program has been really good, so it’s my job to maintain this level of excellence that it expects. The seniors haven’t won here before. So you’re just happy for those guys.”