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Sports
Iowa State Daily Friday, March 15, 2019
Cyclones find their rhythm
Iowa State’s 3-pointers, defense lead way for win BY TREVOR HOLBROOK @iowastatedaily.com
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Cyclones endured a handful of bricks from behind the arc in their previous eight games, while watching a flurry of swishes from opponents. On Thursday, Iowa State flipped the script. Iowa State fended off Baylor’s attempt at a third win against the Cyclones with an 83-66 win. “We played together; we played defense for sure,” said senior guard Marial Shayok. “We rebounded way better. We shared the ball, and it translated into a big win.” The Cyclones capitalized off a strong 38-29 halftime advantage by continuing their hot shooting. After Baylor’s Jared Butler maneuvered through the lane for a layup, freshman Tyrese Haliburton set up shop behind the arc and drilled a 3-pointer. Baylor’s Makai Mason responded with his own 3-pointer. Haliburton struck for another 3-pointer on the next trip down the court. Following the Haliburton 3-point run, Iowa State went on a 6-0 run, triggering a Scott Drew timeout after the first two buckets. “The two that I thought were big was when they came out of the gates early in the second half and they scored, he answered both those [with] threes,” Prohm said. “Those may have been two of the biggest shots of the whole game because it weathered off their run.” Haliburton shined to start the second half, but he followed the lead of fellow freshman guard Talen Horton-Tucker. Horton-Tucker fired off 10 shots in the
CHRIS JORGENSEN/ IOWA STATE DAILY Iowa State sophomore Lindell Wigginton guards Baylor’s Makai Mason during the first half at the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday.
opening half, tallying 16 points. The freshman connected on a pair of two-point shots, but he hurt the Bears from behind the arc. Taking seven 3-point attempts in the half, Horton-Tucker sunk four of them. The freshman jump-started the 3-point shooting, but the Cyclones as a team thrived overall. “Big-time players show up in big-time games,” Haliburton said about Horton-Tucker. “That’s what he does. We know what he can do. “We call him the microwave. He gets hot really quick.” Iowa State shot 52 percent from 3-point range, hitting 13-of-25. The last time the Cyclones hit about the 50 percent threshold
came in their win at Kansas State, shooting over 58 percent. In the six losses Iowa State suffered near the end of the season, teams combined to shoot 64-of-146 from three at a clip of 43.8 percent. Baylor finished with a 9-for-26 game from 3-point land (36 percent) with a couple of those makes coming in garbage time. In one of Iowa State’s signature wins — a 78-64 win against Kansas State — the Wildcats hit 5-of19 (26.3 percent). “This was our most complete game, obviously, since Kansas State,” Prohm said. Prohm emphasized the importance of dribble penetration, offensive rebounding
and perimeter defense entering the Big 12 Tournament. Despite a strong first half and start of the second half, the shooting clinic managed not to flame out. With under five minutes left and the game out of reach, Baylor failed to connect on a pair of 3-pointers over the span of a couple minutes. With four of the starters on the bench and Haliburton leading the unit, the shot clock slimmed to two ticks with the game clock at about 1:50. Haliburton, near NBA range behind the 3-point line, heaved up a shot with a swish and a trip to the semifinals following.
Iowa State answers questions with win over Baylor BY AARON.MARNER @iowastatedaily.com KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The last month or so of Iowa State’s season didn’t go according to plan. Five losses in a six-game stretch and rumors of chemistry issues within the team threatened to derail a train that, after an 18-5 start to the season, was traveling full speed. Questions arose. Could Iowa State right the ship in the postseason, or was it too late? But with an 83-66 win over Baylor, the Cyclones showed just how dangerous they can be. “Man, it was great,” said redshirt senior guard Marial Shayok, who finished with 18 points. “That’s behind us now. Moving forward it’s a new season. We just wanna go out there and win as many games as possible.” Aside from a rocky first-half stretch, in which the Bears snagged several offensive rebounds, Iowa State played with a chip on its shoulder. The Cyclones battled inside, outscoring Baylor 28-24 in the paint and getting the free throw line consistently. When Baylor collapsed on drives, the Cyclones’ four-guard lineup made the Bears pay. Iowa State connected on 13 of the team’s 25 3-point attempts Thursday and assisted on 15 of 30 total made baskets.
CHIRS JORGENSEN/ IOWA STATE DAILY Iowa State freshman Talen Horton-Tucker spins the ball off his hands for a layup during the first half against Baylor at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City on Thursday.
“I think we got back in the right direction,” said sophomore guard Lindell Wigginton. Wigginton said he felt the team was playing together in the season finale, a loss to Big 12 champion Texas Tech. With the postseason underway, moral victories don’t count for much anymore. Iowa State may have figured out its issues at the right time. “I think we [haven’t] played like that since
a month ago,” Wigginton said. “Once we lost those seven games, I think we weren’t locked in and focused.” Iowa State’s NCAA Tournament resume is more or less set in stone. The Cyclones could help their seeding with a strong performance, but the Big 12 Tournament serves more as a way for a reeling team to get back on track. Wigginton and others said this game was
the first time in a while they felt like they were having fun on the court. “I think we just played tough,” said redshirt senior guard Nick Weiler-Babb, who had eight points, six rebounds and three assists. “We played gritty, we played grimy, that’s how you’ve got to win this time of year. “We kinda got back to our basics ... people know we’re capable of it, and we just had to be confident in ourselves.” Threes were falling. Passes were crisp. After freshman guard Tyrese Haliburton nailed a big shot before a timeout, he was greeted by a celebratory shove from freshman forward George Conditt IV. Freshman guard Talen Horton-Tucker, who drilled five 3-pointers, flexed as he walked back toward the team huddle. The first man to greet him time and time again was Michael Jacobson, whom HortonTucker allegedly feuded with last month. While both players said they squashed the issue, the team chemistry was still a question. Now, it’s at a level unseen since the Cyclones’ 78-64 win at Kansas State Feb. 16. At the end of the day, Haliburton said, the players know what’s most important. “Stop looking at people’s opinions on us,” Haliburton said. “We don’t really care at all. As long as everybody in this locker room knows what we can do, and the dudes in those suits on the bench, we don’t care.”