After slaying old Big 12 rival Mizzou last Friday, the Cyclones have one more home tilt before jettisoning off to Maui for the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, as the Texas Southern Tigers make their way to Hilton Coliseum.

The Last Time Out

Last Friday was kind of weird. We thought Mizzou would be decent. Turns out they actually kind of suck. We thought the loss of Lindell Wigginton would doom the Cyclone offense. Turns out it didn’t. In Wiggy’s place stepped true freshman Tyrese Haliburton, and he played like anything other than a freshman. Haliburton literally never left the floor, logging 40 minutes in the game. His stat line was even more impressive, as scored 8 points on 3-of-6 shooting (2-of-5 from three) , three rebounds, two assists, two blocks, four steals, and ZERO turnovers.

However, Tyrese wasn’t the only bright spot for the team, as Nick Weiler-Babb (16 pts, 6 assists), Michael Jacobsen (15 pts), Marial Shayok (20 pts), and Talen Horton-Tucker (12 pts) all had solid games. The offensive ball movement and spacing continued to shine, and the we never really saw an offensive drought that was so common last year.

About Texas Southern

The Tigers currently sit at 255th in the KenPom rankings, so they certainly don’t qualify as any sort of powerhouse (or even decent basketball team), however the Cyclone can’t afford to sleep in their opponent. Why?

Texas Southern went to Waco last week and beat Baylor on their own floor behind Jalyn Patterson’s 23 points. We don’t really know what Baylor will look like this season, but that’s an impressive road win no less.

Looking at their analytics profile, they aren’t good at much of anything, but do boast the sixth-most experienced team in the country. Whether that actually means anything against Iowa State’s youth is anyone’s guess.

Opponent Player to Watch

Jalyn Patterson. He’s become the Tiger’s leading scorer so far this season after transferring from LSU. He’s far and away their first option on offense, as he takes just over 31% of their shots. However, he turns the ball over quite a bit, with 5 TOs against Baylor, and another 3 against Gonzaga.

What to Expect

Make no mistake; this should be an easy win for Steve Prohm and the gang, and another great opportunity to get the freshman lots of valuable minutes before heading to Maui.

Expect the suddenly good Iowa State defense to force lots of turnovers, as Texas Southern turns the ball over on over 21% of possessions, while Iowa State forced turnovers on 32% of possessions.

One could see Texas Southern keeping it close early in the first half if they’re hot from behind the arc, but by the middle of the first half, expect the Cyclones to start pulling away.

Expect Steve Prohm to continue to experiment with various small ball lineups, as they will likely be the key to Iowa State having a successful Maui Invitational.

Iowa State - 88 Texas Southern - 52

Pick Three

1. Talen Horton-Tucker hits 20 points.

2. Tyrese Haliburton has 5 steals.

3. Nick Weiler-Babb plays less than 30 minutes.

Game Notes

Where: Ames, Iowa - Hilton Coliseum (14,384)

When: Monday, November 12th, 7 p.m. (CST)

Radio: Cyclone Radio Network/TuneIn Radio Talent: John Walters (PxP), Eric Heft (Analyst)

TV: Cyclones.tv

Line: No line.

Give us your predictions and expert analyses in the comments!

Go Cyclones!