ISU Upset in round of 64 in NCAA Tournament

What a difference five days makes! Last Saturday, the Cyclones claimed their second straight Big 12 tournament championship and they did it in dramatic fashion: Falling behind by double digits in the last two games of the regular season and all three games of the Big 12 tournament, then putting together tremendous runs in the second half to rally past their opponents.

Fast forward to Thursday afternoon at the Yum center in Louisville, KY where the 3rd seed Cyclones fell victim to the 14th seed UAB Blazers - the first big upset of 2015 NCAA tournament. There was no large deficits to overcome, no remarkable runs, and really nothing spectacular about the entire game. For the first time this season, the Cyclones failed to reach 60 points, and it’s hard to say that UAB’s defense was better than any of the teams the Cyclones played night in and night out in the Big 12.

In a couple of the games that ISU dropped throughout the regular season, it was due to opponents catching fire; like when Baylor went (14-26) from the 3 point line, or when Texas Tech shocked the Cyclones by making 11 three pointers and 23 free throws. But Thursday in the NCAA Tournament, UAB shot 17% from beyond the arc (3-18) and 35% from the field (24-69) - hardly a remarkable offensive performance.

So what was the most significant stat from the game on Thursday? UAB outrebounding ISU 52-37, with 19 of their 52 rebounds being on the offensive glass. The Cyclones got beat worse on the glass versus UAB then they had in any of their three matchups against Texas this year (one of the biggest lineups in the country.) The tallest player on UAB is 6’8”, so what was the issue?

Hustle, energy, desire, will to win!

Rebounding is not part of the game that takes a lot of skill; rebounding is about positioning, anticipation, toughness, and hustle. If other parts of your game are off on a given night, you can always put your “nose to the grindstone” and pull down some boards. The two seniors on ISU’s roster (Hogue and DeJean-Jones) combined for 0 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 fouls. Two of ISU’s best rebounders had a combined 3 rebounds for the entire game. Was UAB just that good at boxing out these two ISU players (and the rest of the team?) Doubtful.

UAB upset ISU in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, but the real story is, they didn’t even play well and they still upset the #3 seed Cyclones! UAB coach Jerod Haase deserves some credit for how he used his team’s timeouts and the abundance of media timeouts to quell any run made by the Cyclones. During pivotal parts of the second half, when ISU has made their amazing runs in the previous games, Haase would call a timeout anytime ISU made back to back buckets. He successfully stopped any Cyclone run from getting out of hand.

What about Fred Hoiberg? How did he coach? Hoiberg is the best thing to happen to Cyclone sports in the last decade, but is there any areas where he can improve? Every college basketball analyst will praise Hoiberg for how calm, cool, and collected his demeanor is during basketball games. They praise his basketball intellect and his halftime changes that seem to produce a completely different 2nd half Cyclone team, especially during the previous five games.

Some will say that Hoiberg’s composure rubs off on his team, and that is one of the reasons why his team has had success mounting comebacks and playing from behind. But what if Hoiberg showed more intensity on the sidelines? What if he was able to better motivate his players from the bench and not have to wait until halftime? It’s no secret that Iowa State plays outstanding at home, where there is “Hilton Magic” and thousands of screaming, encouraging fans. It is also no secret that they struggle on the road when they do not have the encouragement from thousands of fans; this is when it would most benefit them if Hoiberg showed more emotion, energy, and passion.

Another issue that ISU fans are very familiar with is being on the wrong side of bad calls. Hoiberg could have watched ex-Iowa basketball coach Steve Alford coach UCLA to a victory in the game that followed the Cyclone’s loss. In a pivotal moment of the 2nd half, after a questionable call against UCLA, Alford called a timeout and used the vast majority of the timeout to express his displeasure of the official’s call. Of course on the very next possession, UCLA is on the receiving end of a makeup call, and from that point on, the game was officiated differently.

Hoiberg could also look at Bill Self, the head coach of the Big 12 regular season champions and the Cyclone’s biggest rival, the Kansas Jayhawks. Self will ride officials and do his best to make sure that the game is officiated in his favor. Let’s face it, officials are human, they will make calls that result in them getting yelled at less. When you don’t have to worry about getting screamed at by Hoiberg, it’s a little easier to blow a whistle on a Cyclone infraction.

The Cyclones seemed to view the past five games as a positive. Sure, they won those five contests, and they came back from a large deficits, but why have they constantly been falling behind in games throughout the entire season? During the majority of the comebacks throughout the season, a completely different team seemed to emerge from the locker room during the second half. A team that played with a sense of urgency, a ton of energy, and a chip on their shoulder. Great teams are able to motivate themselves to always play with these intangibles.

The only thing left to do is learn from the experience. Hopefully the Cyclones that are lucky enough to return next year, will leave it all on the court every single game, because it didn’t seem like that was the case during the loss to UAB. When a large underdog does not play well, and still beats you, there is only one place to point the finger; and that is at yourself!

photo credit: http://whotv.com/2015/03/19/deja-vu-cyclones-trail-at-the-half/