Abdel Nader
The 17th ranked Iowa State Cyclones will be looking to bounce back from a loss at West Virginia when they host Kansas State on Saturday in Big-12 action.
The Cyclones are 8-7 in the league race and host a Wildcat team that coach Steve Prohm says is much better than its 15-13 overall record.
“I think 11 of 12 or 12 if 13 losses have come against top 30 R-P-I teams”, said Prohm. “We know it is going to be a tough game and a physical game. We really have got to do a good job of keeping them out of the paint and rebounding the ball.”
Defense and rebounding have been issues the past few weeks. The Cyclones have given up an average of 94 points in their last three losses.
“I know everybody wants to talk about defense and obviously we gave up a bunch of points but I think all season we have been playing defense pretty well”, said senior forward Abdel Nader. “One or two games with a lapse on the defensive end is not the best case but we have shown stretches where we can defend and that is a good sign.”
Iowa State is 19-9 overall. Tip off in Hilton Coliseum is 5:00 p.m.