Tomorrow night we've got the Baylor Bears at home. If you're hoping to watch the game, you can view it on WOI 5.2 until the State of the Union Address is over. Once the State of the Union Address is over it will be on WOI for the remainder of the game.
With that out of the way, let's talk some basketball. It's been apparent that ISU has been struggling offensivley. We have been averaging 59 ppg in conference play.
So what is the cure to this? Playing a team averaging 75 ppg in conference play! Not exactly the cure, but what can you do?
At the point in the season, it's clear we just aren't a good offensive team. You aren't going to win many games when you struggle at times to score 50 points in a game. You just aren't. I mean this isn't the Big 10!
Let's take a look at the conference standings:
If we cannot win this game, it's going to be clear we'll be in the 10th to 12th spot heading into the Big XII tournament.
To say the least, this is a big game. ISU wants to try to get some positive momentum heading into the Big XII tournament as does Baylor. While we may feel dissapointed with our team, imagine how Baylor fans must feel? They were nationally ranked to start the season and predicted to finish strong in the Big XII. Now it looks like they aren't going to make the dance.
The Bears have very good guards, led by senior Curtis Jerrells. They have 4 guards in Jerrells, Dugat, Carter, and Dunn that average a combined 54.4 points per game. Not to mention a good forward in Kevin Rogers that's getting about 12 points and 7 rebounds per game.
Baylor is one of the top scoring and rebounding teams in the conference. Their weakness defense. In games where Baylor would score 80, the other team would score 90 it seems. If Baylor scored 70, the other team score 80. ISU's big issue is offense, which is apparent to you, unless the last game you saw us play was SIU-E.
It is clear that ISU plays into Baylor's strengths. Baylor has issues stopping teams, but ISU could take care of that for them, as there have been several times where we've gone 5-10 minutes without scoring. Scoring draughts are a common occurence in conference play with ISU.
I don't think this will be a close game at all. Unless we can play outstanding defense and we're able to score 70+ points. Who knows though? The season is winding down and hopefully our guys are seeing that the winning opportunities are decreasing.
Maybe we will find a way to play amazing. Baylor is 0-7 against ISU at Hilton since the start of the Big XII, so we at least have SOMETHING going for us!
My guess is that the final will be 75-60, Baylor, but I wouldn't mind being wrong!