Iowa and Iowa State matchup for the 59th time tonight in Hilton Coliseum and the Hawkeyes will need to overcome the loss of senior point guard Jeff Horner who suffered a knee injury in Tuesday’s overtime loss at UNI. Freshman Tony Freeman moves into the lineup and coach Steve Alford says experienced players like Greg Brunner and Adam Haluska will need to pick up the slack. Alford says fair or not fair, that’s how it works and they’ll have to ask more of their teammates too without Horner.
Alford says the Hawkeyes will need to find a way to handle the Cyclone’s pressure defense. He says they won’t change their press breaker, but will change the personnel that run the press breaker. He says the next four games, two of the teams like to press, so he says they’ll have to be able to handle it. He says if they’re deflecting more balls and getting steals, then it will become a long night for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa State coach Wayne Morgan expects the Hawkeyes to rally around the absence of Horner. He says other players will step up and do the job, including Mike Henderson.
Morgan says Greg Brunner is a matchup concern for the Cyclones. He says Brunner is playing excellent and he says Iowa will likely rely heavily on Brunner who can play inside and go outside and make threes.
Morgan says it will take a complete effort to win. He says that against Northern Iowa, the Hawkeyes were very good at getting back on defense. He says they also run their offense well. Morgan says there isn’t a game where his team can overlook anything.
On the injury front for I-S-U Tasheed Carr is still battling an injured shoulder and Morgan says his status is still uncertain. Carr missed Monday night’s victory at Drake. Iowa State guard Curtis Stinson expects it to be an emotional game when the Cyclones entertain 12th ranked Iowa tonight in Hilton Coliseum. The Hawkeyes are 7-2 after an overtime loss at U-N-I while the Cyclones improved to 5-2 with a Monday night victory at Drake. Stinson expects the Hawkeyes to rally after losing senior guard Jeff Horner to a knee injury. He says any time you lose your point guard that hurts you, but he says Iowa has the players to step up.