Well, tonight is the first round of the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City. In all likelihood, this is the last game of the season for the Cyclones. I personally hope it isn't the last we see of Brackins, but I suppose we won't know that until a later date.

Last time we played OSU, it was literally the tale of two halves. This has been a common occurance for ISU, especially on the road. In the first half, we were able to contain the most underrated player in the Big 12 (in my opinion), Byron Eaton. He got into some foul trouble in the first half from my memory and that really helped keep the game close for ISU.  Eaton really is the key to OSU. When he's clicking, their whole team really clicks.  In the 2nd half, Eaton got rolling and OSU put up 50.

Overall, OSU is a much more athletic team than Iowa State. They have pretty much all guards, and they can run and put up points in a hurry. I do not like the way ISU matches up against Oklahoma State. On one hand, they don't have a huge post player to challenge Brackins, but on the other hand, we don't have a ton of athletic guards and wing players to challenge Eaton, Anderson (another player I love), and Harris.

Maybe ISU will surprise us. I certainly don't think OSU is unstoppable. I just think you have to go "Colorado" on them a little. What does that mean? On offense you don't turn the ball over, and you work the shot clock down on every possession. If you are able to do this, you can control the pace of the game, and make it slower. I think they way you beat an athletic team like OSU is to slow the game down. It gives you a chance to stay close, and prevents OSU from going on runs. If we go out there with the mentality that we're going to run with them, then I think it could turn ugly. If we take care of the ball and play a slow half-court game, that's ISU's best chance of winning in my opinion.

The winner of this game, will play Oklahoma tomorrow (March 12th) at 6pm CST.

Go State!