tOSU vs. Iowa State (Unofficial Game Preview)

[vrbryant]

The Ohio State Buckeyes
vs.
The Iowa State Cyclones
Saturday, December 17 - 8:00 p.m. (ESPN2)

IOWA STATE - Official Site of Iowa State Athletics - The Buckeyes hit the road again, this time heading west to Des Moines to take a swing at the Cyclones in a game that, for whatever reason, has been dubbed "The Mediacom Cyclone Capital Classic". I have yet to be apprised of how it obtained its Classic status. In any event, we are once again heading not into the lion's den, but rather into, say, the den of a neighboring lion. As in the St. Joe's game (held at the Palestra), this contest will take place in Des Moines' Wells Fargo Arena - the regular home of the Iowa Stars minor league hockey franchise. The venue is a mere 35 miles from the main campus in Ames, so we can probably expect to face just as large a contingent of ISU fans and students as we would have otherwise. The Cyclones are 6-2 thus far; their last game (a stunning 72-60 victory over the #13 Iowa Hawkeyes) took place a full week ago, so it will be interesting to see how that affects them. As for us, this is our last road game until January 7th, so here's hoping we make it count. On to the players.

The backcourt is a two-headed monster. The two juniors (pictured below) run the show, and combine to lead the Cyclones in several statistical categories, including points, assists, rebounds, steals and minutes played. At the point, there's #11, Will Blalock (6-0, 205). The Boston native not only leads the team in assists, but the Big 12 as well, and ranks third nationally at 7.5 per game. His 2.6:1 assist-to-turnover ratio ain't too shabby neither. He's putting in 13.3 points and 3.5 boards per game as well, and shooting .458 from the arc, so we'll have more to worry about than just his ability to set his cohorts up on offense. The Boston native has a 6'5" wingspan and was a top point guard prospect coming out of high school. Needless to say, Jamar will have his hands full with this one.

#11 - Will Blalock

#1 - Curtis Stinson​

Blalock's partner in crime is the very appropriately numbered #1, Curtis Stinson (6-3, 215). He can score, he can pass, and his rap sheet is incredible. He's ISU's MVP two years running (yes, he shared MVP honors as a freshman), was named first team All-Big 12 and All-Defense a year ago, was tabbed a pre-season All-American this year by The Sporting News - the accolades go on and on. He is, without question, one of the top guards in the nation, and will likely give us fits. Curtis is currently second in the conference at 20.0 ppg, and leads ISU in rebounding (5.5 rpg), steals (23 in eight games), and still dishes out nearly five assists a night. Frankly, he frightens me. While not an exceptional shooter, he still managed to eclipse the 1,000 point mark for his career...in his sophomore season. He's described on ESPN.com as being "tough as nails," and "quick, but big for a point guard." Containing him will absolutely be top priority, as shutting him down completely is probably not a reasonable option.

At the two forward spots, we'll face #24, fifth-year senior Anthony Davis (6-5, 235), and #13, sophomore Rahshon Clark (6-6, 195). Davis (who is quite literally straight outta Compton) is the garbage man. He's shooting just .358 from the floor thus far, which has kept his scoring down, but with Stinson behind him, that matters very little. He will probably guard J.J., and at his size, may be able to keep Sully off the glass. Tough task, to be sure, but we'll see what happens. Clark is sensational, really, and will make it very difficult to focus heavily on Blalock and Stinson. With a Big 12 Player of the Week award to his credit, he's currently second on the team in scoring (15.9 ppg), second in rebounding (5.1 rpg), and tops the FG% list at a Foster-esque 60.5%. He actually has more offensive rebounds (21) than defensive (20), so boxing out will be critical with this kid. At a slight 195 pounds, he shouldn't be too hard to push around. If Sylvester starts again (tough to say), he will have to make a concerted effort to guard Clark and limit his offensive rebounding capabilities. The last thing we need is for this guy to create second-chance opportunities for #1.

In the middle will most likely be #33, sophomore center Jiri Hubalek. He has started the last three games, and had a fantastic showing against Iowa before fouling out late. His numbers in that game: 6 for 10, 14 points, 8 boards, 3 steals and 3 blocked shots. Nothing to sneeze at. At 6'11", he'll have a height advantage over TDials, but he weighs just 205, so for his sake, there had better be no cracks in the floor at the Wells Fargo. He shares time with #40, freshman center Ross Marsden (6-10, 210). Both players are pretty versatile, but are clearly not crucial components in the Cyclone offense.

Also seeing floor time will be #0, freshman forward Shawn Taggart (6-10, 225) and #10, sophomore guard Tasheed Carr (6-4, 205). They've both been logging significant minutes (16.3 and 22.4, respectively), and Taggart will be an interesting matchup for our squad.

Iowa State, while beatable (they dropped to Iona and Fresno State, and both games were at home), is extremely talented. Stinson can and does take games over, and this team is deep enough to survive his bench time. All that said, it's just difficult to fathom Thad not having figured out a way to keep the Cyclones in check. I think our biggest (and perhaps only) advantage we have this game is Matta himself. ISU head coach Wayne Morgan is no slouch, but watching Matta patrol the sidelines inspires in me a great confidence. I don't pretend to know how he's going to get it done, but I still see us leaving Des Moines with our seventh win.

Projected starters:

Ohio State

F - Matt Sylvester
F - J.J. Sullinger
C - Terence Dials
G - Foster, Je'Kel
G - Jamar Butler

Iowa State

F - Anthony Davis
F - Rahshon Clark
C - Jiri Hubalek
G - Curtis Stinson
G - Will Blalock


My prediction: OSU 76 - ISU 73

Up next, Tennessee State...

 

[vrbryant]

UPDATE: Sylvester will likely guard Anthony Davis, not Clark.