ISU coach Steve Prohm has never faced WVU coach Bob Huggins or West Virginia in his coaching career.

When the Mountaineers come to Ames on Tuesday for another Big 12 matchup, all Prohm will have to go on is film and word from the rest of the team.

Senior forward Georges Niang, though, knows exactly what is coming.

“Have you ever been chased by a couple of wild pit bulls?” Niang said. “That’s what their press really feels like. They’re everywhere. They’re looking at you, making you feel as uncomfortable as possible.”

No. 14 West Virginia brings a unique style of play — a nearly constant full-court press. And so far this season, it’s worked well.

The Mountaineers defeated Kansas at home earlier in January. They lost to Oklahoma on the road, but only by two points. West Virginia has garnered a top-20 ranking for most of the season and is currently tied for first place in the Big 12. 

A lot of the Mountaineers’ success can be attributed to Huggins’ 40-minute full-court press, which they’ve used successfully for years.

“They’re like a pack of dogs ready to eat,” Morris said. “That’s what gets their offense going. We have to take care of the ball.”

The Cyclones, though, don’t seem too worried about the fast-paced style of play that is certainly headed their way. They’ve won the last three games against the Mountaineers. By now, the team feels confident it knows what lies ahead.

“Obviously we feel comfortable, we have [Monté Morris] bringing up the ball,” Niang said. “It’s definitely something that we’re used to and we’ve seen.”

This, however, is Prohm’s first attempt at West Virginia. To prepare for the press, he isn’t going to simulate it much in practice beforehand.

It’s just not feasible.

“We don’t have the numbers in our practice to even simulate that,” Prohm said. “We just don’t have the depth of guys to throw seven guys in. I think you just review. These guys are experienced; they’ve played it before. You just review where you need to be and what we’re looking for, and just getting them in spots. These guys have done a good job against them.”

Prohm isn’t going to overthink how to break the press. There isn’t enough time for that.

“You’re not going to run a bunch of offense because by the time you get it across and get settled, you only have about 16, 18 seconds [left on the shot clock],” Prohm said. “It’s going to be spread the floor, make sure we’re really in our spots. You can’t not take those [fast-break] points though if they’re there. But tempo is going to be important, especially with our numbers, so we’ve got to be smart about that.”

Even though he’s come out on top the past three games against West Virginia, Niang knows the Cyclones can’t get going too fast. 

Instead, they just need to stay focused the entire game.

“You’ve go to keep your poise out there,” Niang said. “We have an older group of guys that are really focused on instead of individual battles with them — they’re going to try to throw you off your game — really just focus on what the big goal is, and that’s to win the game.”