PROHMBALL XXXIV: Iowa State vs. Arkansas Little Rock NCAA Tournament Game Thread

Game Info

The Opponent: Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans (30-4)

Tip: Saturday, 5:10 p.m. CDT - Pepsi Center - Denver, Colorado

TV/Webcast: TBS / March Madness On Demand (Andrew Catalon - PxP, Steve Lappas - Color, Jamie Erdahl - Reporter)

Radio: Cyclone Radio Network (John Walters - PxP, Eric Heft - Color)

Arkansas-Little Rock SB Nation Site: Mid Major Madness

Getting Up to Speed

Buh Buh Buh Bye, Iona! - The Cyclones won fairly comfortably over their first round opponent, the Iona Gaels, 94-81 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

We're Talking Little Rock - The Trojans are virtually the opposite style of Iona in that they want to slow the game down and grind it out on defense as opposed to running and gunning on offense.

UALR-Iowa St. Preview - According to UALR forward Lis Shoshi, it's going to take a team effort to slow down Georges Niang when ISU is on offense.

Prediction

This game scares the living daylights out of me for a couple reasons. The first is Arkansas-Little Rock is the second most experienced team remaining in the NCAA Tournament according to KenPom (though Iowa State is #1). The second is because we've seen the Cyclones struggle against teams like UALR who like to slow down the pace of the game and play hard-nosed defense.

While the Trojans got out of their comfort zone to manufacture their comeback against Purdue in round one (by speeding up the tempo and shooting early in the shot clock), they don't want to do that unless it's necessary. I'll be surprised if either team opens up a double digit lead at any point during today's game. Look for it to be a tight one throughout, and hopefully Iowa State can come out on top in the end and move on to the Sweet Sixteen.

Iowa State 72 - Arkansas Little Rock 68

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