Oklahoma @ Iowa State preview
James H. Hilton Coliseum
Last Meeting ( Feb 25, 2019 ) Oklahoma 61, Iowa State 78
Oklahoma is surging, having won four straight while Iowa State is on a bit of a skid, having dropped three straight and four of its last five. Those streaks will be matched Saturday night as the Cyclones play host to the Sooners.
Being at home, the game is a little more important to Iowa State, which dropped to 0-2 in the Big 12 on Wednesday night with a 79-53 loss to visiting Kansas. There’s little shame in losing to the third-ranked Jayhawks, but the schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Cyclones, who visit nationally-ranked Baylor and Texas Tech following the game against Oklahoma. The Sooners, meanwhile, will be looking for their second straight conference road win after handing Texas its first home loss of the season Wednesday night, winning 72-62 in Austin. It’s a prime letdown spot, though, for Oklahoma, which can’t get caught looking ahead to Tuesday’s home date with Kansas.
TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2
ABOUT OKLAHOMA (11-3, 2-0 Big 12): In snapping a four-game losing streak in Austin, the Sooners received a game-high 22 points from Kristian Doolittle and outshot the hosts 50-37.5 percent from the field. Oklahoma, the Big 12’s top free-throw shooting team at 77.4 percent, also survived a rare off night at the line, hitting 10 of 18 attempts. On the season, Doolittle ranks third in the conference in scoring (17.3 per contest) and fourth in rebounding (9.0) while guard Austin Reaves (16.1 points) and forward Brady Manek (14.4) also are averaging double digits.
ABOUT IOWA STATE (7-7, 0-2): Leading scorer Tyrese Haliburton (16.7 points) was held to his second-lowest point total of the season (five) Wednesday as the Cyclones were held a full 27 points below their conference-leading average of 80.2 entering the contest. Iowa State was outshot 51.9-34.5 percent and fell to 0-7 when the opposition shoots better from the field. Aside from Haliburton, who is also averaging a Big 12-best 7.7 assists, five teammates are averaging at least 8.2 points per game, including guard Rasir Bolton (14.6) and forward George Conditt (10.0).
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Iowa State has won eight of the last 11 meetings, and has prevailed in eight straight home matchups in the series.
2. The Cyclones lead the conference with a 5.0 turnover margin but rank last in a number of defensive categories, including points allowed (71.9), field-goal percentage defense (43.8) and 3-point defense (37.1 percent).
3. Both teams have struggled on the glass, with Oklahoma owning a 0.1 rebounding margin (seventh in the Big 12) and Iowa State faring even worse with a minus-2.6 margin (12th).
PREDICTION: Iowa State 78, Oklahoma 74