Obviously, all eyes will be on DeAndre Kane if he?s able to play, but it?s a question of how much he?ll actually have an impact. If he does play, he?ll likely be more of a facilitator and get the entire team going. Iowa State thrives off of ball movement, and one of the many reasons they lost their first game of the season on Saturday was a lower amount of assists (15) on field goals made (34).
To make up for Kane?s injury, everyone has to step up their play. Niang needs to avoid foul trouble and hopefully drain some 3′s. He had a solid 14 points, six rebounds, and three assists against the Sooners and replicating that performance would be ideal.
It will be another tough assignment for Hogue, but he got beat badly by Spangler in his last game and he needs to be stronger on the boards against Ellis and Embiid.
If Kane isn?t on the floor, the biggest problem is matching up with Wiggins defensively. Similar to Kane, Wiggins impacts the rebounding game and is 3rd on the team averaging 5.4 boards per game. He could have a career night if he?s able to get his game going, and I expect him to have a great night unless he can?t find his rhythm in a hostile environment.
And yes, Hilton Coliseum will be insane. Despite the loss, people were still lining up and camping for the game as early as Sunday. They know a win over Kansas would give them a major advantage in competing for the Big 12 regular season belt, getting the first seed in the conference tournament, and one of the top two seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
Plus, Cyclone fans are still irate about how they lost to Kansas in the first two meetings last year.
Iowa State will likely lose the rebounding battle and Wiggins could have a great game, but there?s still something about watching the Cyclones run Baylor off the court in the second half last Tuesday. The arena will be even louder with the students back, and ISU didn?t let Baylor?s size bother them. 3-point shots also seem to fall better at Hilton than on the road for Iowa State.
Kansas still has a younger, growing team. All the misfortunes of last year haven?t been seen in this Cyclone squad, and redemption will be on the way with rabid fans so packed full of energy that the Monster corporation couldn?t re-create in their drinks.
tough game to handicap.
