Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg wants his team to focus on the next game and not the big picture. A three game winning streak has moved the Cyclones into the thick of the Big-12 race heading into Tuesday night’s game at Oklahoma State.
Iowa State is 7-3 and a game behind tri-leaders Kansas, Baylor and Missouri. “If you look at this league, I think anybody can beat any team on any given night, so you’ve just got to worry about yourself and try to take care of business and see what happens at the end of the conference season,” Hoiberg says.
The Cyclones are shooting better than 46% from three point range in the last three games and Hoiberg says much of the reason is the play of sophomore Royce White. He says they are tough team to defend with White down on the block and he says when he gets double-teamed, he does not force the action. Hoiberg says White took just one shot in the last game, and that shows his unselfishness.
Hoiberg says many of the three pointers come about when opponents double-team White. He says they make sure White has an outlet to throw the ball to by keeping their spacing. Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford says it takes a variety of defenses to slow White down as he can hurt you in so many ways and he is “a special player.”
Oklahoma State is 4-6 in the Big-12 and 11-12 overall.