A Closer Look at Iowa State, Wisconsin's Round of 32 Opponent
MILWAUKEE – Less than 30 minutes after seeing his team survive and advance in the NCAA Tournament, Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard’s final media question was asked what he knew about Iowa State. His initial response, considering the situation, was as expected.
“They’re good,” a bewildered Gard said. “They won tonight.”
While Gard did go on to point out a couple of players he knew from Big Ten play, he didn’t need to be convinced the Cyclones were good after they knocked out sixth-seed LSU prior to the Badgers taking the court. Perhaps that’s why he said he was anxious to talk to Dean Oliver, the UW assistant coach in charge of the scouting report, and was prepping for a late-night watching film in his hotel room.
“It's a good team,” Gard said. “Obviously, you win and get into this tournament, and you win (in the tournament), you're doing something right. We'll have to use the next day and a half to prepare and be ready for Sunday night.”
After winning its 15th NCAA Tournament game since 2004, the seventh-highest total in the nation, we look at what Wisconsin (25-7) has in store when it faces Iowa State (21-12) on Friday night at Fiserv Forum (5:10 CT, TNT).
What Do The Computers Say?
Iowa State enters the NCAA Tournament ranked 49th in the NCAA Net Rankings, 79 spots better than Colgate. The Cyclones went 9-8 in Quad 1 games, tied for fifth-most in the nation with Wisconsin (9-3) and Kentucky (9-2). Iowa State also went 1-4 in Quad 2, 2-0 in Quad 3, and 8-0 in Quad 4. Iowa State is ranked No.36 in KenPom, No.37 in T-Rank, and No.51 in Sagarin.
The Cyclones Had a Bounce-Back Season
After going 2-22 during the pandemic-shortened season, including 0-18 in the Big 12, Iowa State mutually parted ways with Steve Prohm and hired UNLV head coach T.J. Otzelberger, a former ISU assistant.
Helping remake the roster through the transfer portal, Iowa State went undefeated through the nonconference portion of the schedule that included winning the NIT Season Tip-Off championship over No.9 Memphis. With a road win at Creighton and a home win over Iowa, the Cyclones went 3-0 against NCAA Tournament teams in the nonconference and rose as high as No.8 in the AP poll.
Big 12 conference play was less friendly. The Cyclones went 3-8 against conference teams that made the NCAA Tournament (Baylor, Kansas, TCU, Texas, and Texas Tech) and were 3-7 against Big 12 teams away from home. Iowa State was as many as six games under .500 in league play (3-9 on Feb.12) and finished 7-11 in league play.
But by virtue of its 59-54 victory over LSU Friday, the Cyclones won their first NCAA Tournament game since 2017 and registered their first upset as a double-digit seed since 2013. The school’s +19 win turnaround is the best in Big 12 history.
“All the credit (for the turnaround) goes to the young men in our program for how they bought into the work habits,” said Otzelberger, who improved to 7-8 against the tournament field. “We put a pretty demanding schedule in front of them on what we do every single game … and they’ve embraced that. Our confidence has grown throughout the course of the season based on doing simple things on a daily basis each and every day. You don’t have the type of turnaround that we have had this season if the young men in your program don’t buy in immediately, don’t work extremely hard, and don’t fight through adversity.”
What's the Makeup of Iowa State?
Much like Colgate, Iowa State has a veteran rotation but its roster was largely built through the transfer portal. The Cyclones brought in six players in the offseason and four of them were in the starting lineup Thursday. While the group’s offensive efficiency is the second-worst remaining win the NCAA field, scoring 104.9 points per 100 possessions (ranked No.141 in KenPom), the Cyclones are 10th in adjusted defensive efficiency in allowing only 89.6 points per 100 possessions. Iowa State’s defense is on par with St. Mary’s, which held UW to 61 points on 37.5 percent shooting in the finals of the Maui Invitational.
Entering the NCAAs, Iowa State was sixth nationally in turnover percentage (24.6), 13th in turnovers forces (16.6), 17th in steals percentage (12.4), 22nd in 3-point defense (29.6), and 26th in scoring (63.0).
After holding LSU to 4-for-19 from 3-point range, Iowa State has held 26 opponents under eight made three-pointers. The Cyclones are registered 15 steals and forced 19 turnovers, leading to 22 points.
“We believe that the work that we put in defensively, the effort and energy can propel us to victories,” said Otzelberger, who cites former UW coach Dick Bennett as one of his idols. “Really proud of our guys because they’ve embraced that identity. We talk all the time about who we can be and that’s who we can be.”
Iowa State entered the tournament averaging 6.7 points per game but hit 12 against LSU, including nine in the second half. That helped offset the Cyclones scoring just six points in the paint and getting outrebounded, 38-29. Like Wisconsin, Iowa State won’t be in a hurry. The Cyclones have an adjusted tempo of 66.1 possessions per game that ranks them 245th in the country, per KenPom. UW has an adjusted tempo of 66.4.
Who is the Leading Scorer?
Senior 6-foot-4 guard Izaiah Brockington was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year after spending the previous two seasons at Penn State. After averaging 12.6 points per game as a junior with the Nittany Lions, Brockington averaged 17.2 points (fourth in the Big 12) and a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game (third). He shot 46 percent from the floor. He finished with 19 points on 6-for-16 shooting, 1-for-4 from 3-point range, and 6-for-8 from the free-throw line. In three career games against UW, Brockington is averaging 13.7 points on 50 percent shooting.
Who Are Some Others to Watch?
In a team full of senior transfers, freshman guard Tyrese Hunter was the biggest star Friday. The Big 12 Freshman of the year, and a third-team Big 12 selection, was second on the team in scoring with 10.8 points per game but finished with a career-high 23 points in part because he went 7-for-11 from 3-point range. Hunter also finished with five steals and three assists, the latter stat a category he finished third in the conference in. He’s the school’s freshman record holder in assists (160) and steals (60). A native of Racine and having played high school at Racine St. Catherine’s for Bennett’s nephew, Hunter has a vocal cheering section.
“It’s March Madness,” said Hunter, who wasn’t recruited by Wisconsin because of the Badgers having recruited point guards Lorne Bowman and Chucky Hepburn. “Everybody got one goal and you’ve got to go out there and play hard. That’s just me playing myself. Like people say, freshman this, freshman that, but at the end of the day I’m a basketball player that’s out there with other basketball players that’s going out there to compete and win.”
Brockington isn’t the only Big Ten transfer on Iowa State’s roster. After playing three years at Minnesota, Gabe Kalscheur left after the coaching change in Minneapolis and is averaging 9.1 points per game. In four career games against the Badgers, Kalscheur is averaging 10.5 points on 36.1 percent shooting.
Junior guard Caleb Grill (UNLV) is averaging just over six points off the bench and is mostly a perimeter player. Of his 192 shots this season, 147 have been from 3-point range (76.6 percent). He was 2-for-11 from the perimeter against LSU.
Senior forward Aljaz Kunc (Washington State) plays the most of the Cyclones' few frontcourt players at just over 21 minutes per game but is more impactful on the defensive end of the floor (6.2 ppg).
“We have a term in our program ‘instant impact,’ and you could feel (his) impact immediately,” Otzelberger said. “He was flying around, getting deflections around the rim, made plays early, keeping rebounds alive. So many hustle and energy plays.”
Series History
Wisconsin and Iowa State have played eight times in a series that dates to 1929 but the two schools have not faced each other in 1981. The Cyclones hold a 5-3 record all-time, and a 1-0 record in neutral-site games, winning the third-place of the 1981 Far West Classic in Portland, Oregon. Former UW coach Bo Ryan was an assistant at the time under Bill Cofield. The Cyclones were coached by former Badgers assistant coach Johnny Orr.
NCAA Tournament History
Iowa State has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 21 times, with a current record of 20-20. The program has one Final Four appearance, coming in the 1944 season when the field was eight teams. The Cyclones have made the tournament in eight of the last 11 seasons, one of 14 teams to claim that stat.
Iowa State is 6-14 when the higher-seeded team, having never beaten a team seeded more than five lines above them.
Useless Fact
Otzelberger grew up in Milwaukee, was a three-year starter at Thomas More HS, was a two-year captain at UW-Whitewater, and began his coaching career at Burlington Catholic Central High School.
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