Steve Prohm
In an NCAA Tournament full of upsets all of the top seeds have survived. Iowa State hopes to change that in Chicago. The Cyclones play top seeded Virginia in the semifinals of the Midwest Region and with a victory would play their third double digit seed of the tournament for the right to advance to the Final Four.
The game will match the Cyclones’ up tempo style of play against a Virginia team that wants to grind it out in the half court.
“Our biggest thing offensively is making sure our spacing is good and our shot selection is good”, said Iowa State coach Steve Prohm. “We don’t want to play crazy fast. We want to run and make sure we get into spots and get the ball moving. When we have good ball reversal and good shot selection we are very good.”
Iowa State senior forward Georges Niang says if the Cyclones want to speed up the game they will need to do it with defense.
“I think if you can deny passes and take away certain passes and make them go to counters that will help speed them up a little bit”, said Niang. “Obviously they play a slow, grind it out type of style.”
Tip off in the United Center is 6:10 p.m. The winner will face the winner of the game between Gonzaga and Syracuse in Sunday’s regional final.