Cyclones head coach Steve Prohm after win over West Virginia. Tommy Birch/The Register
AMES, Ia. — Patience, poise and a good gameplan were the keys to Iowa State being able to navigate through West Virginia’s suffocating press defense.
Iowa State broke No. 11 West Virginia's defense and then broke the Mountaineers with a shocking 93-77 win before an announced crowd of 14,219 fans at Hilton Coliseum on Wednesday.
“The thing I was most proud of is (our poise) against their pressure,” said Iowa State coach Steve Prohm. “We only turned it over eight times so that’s a credit to everybody that was on the floor and our bench was good.”
West Virginia’s entered Wednesday’s game ranking second in the nation in turnover margin (7.1), third in forced turnovers (18.9) and seven in steals per game (9.1). Their press defense has seemingly gotten to everyone.
Not Iowa State.
The Cyclones were able to combat the aggressive approach that has been known to overwhelm opposing offenses early on, and eventually break them down late in the game. It was an especially difficult ask for Iowa State ,which was without starting point guard Nick Weiler-Babb who has been battling tendinitis.
So, how was Iowa State able to do it? Zoran Talley Jr. credited Iowa State’s ability to stay patient when the attack came and not let it overwhelm the young Cyclones. Talley, who handled Iowa State’s inbounds passes, was instrumental in helping the Cyclones break the pressure and find an open man down the court.
“When we break the press, they come to trap so we just had to have somebody back and then have somebody in the middle so we could pass it to the open man and attack from there,” Talley said.
It often worked with Iowa State’s ball-handlers sometimes finding open targets down the court like quarterbacks looking for receivers down the football field. The results were rousing for the Cyclones, who shot 62.1 percent (36-for-58) from the field and had four players score in double figures.
Donovan Jackson finished with 25 points. Lindell Wigginton added 22. Cameron Lard finished with 18, and Solomon Young chipped in with 14.
Even more impressive, Iowa State never seemed to get overwhelmed and never appeared to break down because of the Mountaineers' defense. The Cyclones finished the game with just eight turnovers while West Virginia tallied just two steals.
Shocking not only for a team playing against West Virginia, but especially a young Iowa State squad without its regular point guard.
“These guys are learning everyday about the consistency and the level of focus and effort and attention to detail,” Prohm said. “That’s why I was proud of them against the press because you have to be detail-oriented and then you’ve got to be mentally and physically tough, and they responded.”
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Talley comes up big
The stats don’t show it but one of the most important parts of Iowa State’s success was Talley. The redshirt junior made his first start of the season Wednesday, filling in for Weiler-Babb, and delivered.
Talley scored seven points, handed out five assists and grabbed four rebounds. While those numbers may not jump out at fans, he had a huge helping hand in finding the open man on inbounds plays. The former reserve also had to stay cool, calm and collected when the passes — and defensive pressure — would sometimes come rushing back his way. Talley never let the defense overwhelm him.
“We needed him,” Prohm said. “He was terrific. I think his versatility at the three and four… his versatility was crucial tonight. I think you need a guy like that to really help in breaking the pressure because it’s constant, it’s relentless and you’ve got to make good decisions.”
Talley usually did. That was impressive. Even more impressive was the fact that his patience came in his first start and just his 13th game of the season. Talley, who missed time with a fractured foot earlier in the year, entered Wednesday averaging 5.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.
Despite the limited playing time, he helped keep the Cyclones composed in tough times.
“He did a great job of breaking pressure,” Prohm said. “I thought he competed defensively, like we envisioned him, guarding the ball.”
Talley has come a long way this season. After missing time with the foot injury, the athletic wing returned to Iowa State's bench in January. Talley had to fight for playing time and didn’t even get any court action in Iowa State’s win against Baylor. Now he’s getting huge minutes and playing a big role for Prohm.
“You’ve just got to stay patient and trust God’s plan — that’s all,” Talley said. “Trust the process and never give up on yourself.”
Tale of two teams
If there is one thing Iowa State has been consistent at this season, it has been being inconsistent. Just look at Iowa State’s recent run. The Cyclones took down No. 8 Texas Tech on Jan. 20, fell at Texas two days later and then suffered an embarrassing loss at home to No. 21 Tennessee on Jan. 27.
Iowa State may be college basketball’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But Prohm had another comparison for Iowa State’s inconsistencies.
“We’ve got two teams,” Prohm said. “We’ve got our varsity team and our J.V. team. We need the varsity team a lot more than we need the J.V. team.”
The reason for Iowa State’s struggles to find that consistency may be simple. The Cyclones are young, talented and still learning on the job. There are bound to be highs and lows throughout the season, one many thought of as a "rebuilding" year for a program that had made six consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Wednesday was one of those highs.
"I think tonight we showed character, a lot of character," Wigginton said.
"We didn't press," the West Virginia said of his team's feeble attempt at pressure and Iowa State's ability to break it. Randy Peterson/The Register