Iowa State Loses, Again: 61-50

Why do I like sports? I remember in both of Otz first two seasons, thinking to myself “Okay but we’re not like good, right?” Even after going undefeated in the non-conference and after being tied for first place in the Big 12 in late January. I kept thinking, when do the wheels fall out? Well, right about now.

There might be something to the way Otzelbasketbergerball is played, and it isn’t built for late season success. It’s hard for a group of guys to be that active on defense for 40 minutes a game, especially when it’s the 28th game of the season, and your four months in. It could be our lack of offensive consistency, and our terrible execution in half-court offense. It could be our lack of a true ‘go get one’ style of player like Izaiah Brockington, or Marial Shayok.

The point is, this team has problems, and I’m not sure if there’s solutions. Iowa State looks like the worse version of themselves when they’re up 10 in the second half. The team looked uninspired to start the second half, and Oklahoma at one point in the second half, had 11 made 3-point shots, while Iowa State only attempted 10 three-point shots in the whole game.

That is abysmal.

Speaking of abysmal, Iowa State shot 31% from the field, not from 3, from the field, at home. That is so bad. So bad. For every shot we made, we’d miss the next three or four shots. That is terrible.

We got bullied on the inside by the freakin’ Groves brothers, who, no offense, don’t really scream ‘tough bullies in the paint’. They look more like Bill Walton’s grandsons who are taking the next bus to Woodstock. And they out rebounded us 39-27. Sweet.

This game sucked, I hope we win against West Virginia, because I’m not sure how many more wins this team has left in the tank.

In the preview today, I said good teams win this game, we lost, and we played like a bad team.

Coming up, West Virginia is in Ames for senior night on Big Monday. That one tips off at 8pm on ESPN 2.