Iowa State emphasizes ball movement after lackluster home loss

AMES — When you haven't lost to a nonconference opponent at home in the last 37 tries and play the way Iowa State did offensively Thursday, there is going to be a shock to the system.

The way the Cyclones fell to Cincinnati, in a lackluster offensive performance, raised plenty of eyebrows. The Bearcats are typically sound defensively, but there was a bit more to the Cyclones' lagging offense.

'You've just got to continue to get ball movement,' said Iowa State coach Steve Prohm. 'I thought when we got ball movement we ended up getting some good things.

'Then just the way you screen and the angles you screen with ball movement, it has to be really good against them because you've got to shift sides. There was a couple open looks we missed.'

The No. 21 Cyclones (5-2) will have to address some of those offensive issues quickly as they take on Omaha on Monday, with tipoff slated for 7 p.m.

With the offensive weapons at Iowa State's disposal, ball movement has to be a priority. The Cyclones assisted on just 5-of-22 makes against Cincinnati. Arguably their two best 3-point shooters in recent history, Matt Thomas and Naz Mitrou-Long, combined to shoot 3-for-13 from outside — Mitrou-Long went 0-for-7 from the field.

Monte Morris had 15 points on 7-of-16 shooting, but in end-of-game situations, the ball has to be in his hands. At the end of regulation and overtime, Morris looked for kick outs each time to Mitrou-Long for deep, desperation 3-point attempts.

'We were one or two stops away,' Morris said. 'Rebounding was a major key down the stretch. We didn't get the ones we were supposed to.

'We've just got to go back to the drawing board. It ain't the end of the world. We lost by one (to Cincinnati). We just need to get better.'

The last matchup with the Mavericks (4-4) was in 2012 when Iowa State won 93-65 in Georges Niang's, currently with the Indiana Pacers, first collegiate start.

Omaha is ranked No. 142 according to KenPom, but is coming off a nine-point win at Iowa in which it scored 98 points. The Mavericks are a top-25 team in adjusted tempo, and will want to get out in transition, which should be an asset to the Cyclones in curing any offensive concerns.

Through its first seven games, Iowa State actually has a higher-rated adjusted defense than adjusted offense (No. 29 and No. 33) according to KenPom. Regaining some of that offensive juice that has made the Cyclones successful in the last six years has to start with sharing the rock.

Morris is without question the team's best passer, but some of the onus could fall on forward Deonte Burton. Burton's athleticism and ability to handle the ball could open up opportunities for drive-and-kick situations, but also gives him the option to take it all the way to the rim based on what he sees in the post.

'Burton has to play at the level he's playing at right now,' Prohm said after Burton's 29-point performance against Gonzaga. 'For Burton, we don't run a lot of the same stuff we ran for Niang. Some of it, but we posted Niang off the block a lot more. We haven't done that as much for Burton right now, we may later as we go further in the year.'

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