Iowa State's Blake Buchanan seeks to avoid whistles Thursday against Grambling State

AMES — Dictate, don’t simply react.

That, in short, is what Iowa State men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger wants from his skilled and athletic transfer big man, Blake Buchanan, who’s been stymied by foul trouble early this season.

“We want him to be out in front of plays, specifically in picks and roll, and when he’s defending on the basketball,” said Otzelberger, whose 16th-ranked team (1-0) plays host to Grambling State (1-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday. “We feel like he’s picked up some fouls when he hasn’t been quite as aggressive as we’d like. Usually in most cases, when he’s ahead of the play and extremely aggressive, his speed sets in and that wreaks havoc.”

The 6-foot-11 Buchanan’s wide-ranging abilities have been fully on display in practice, but outside of a soaring alley-top dunk in Monday’s 88-50 rout of FDU, the Hilton Coliseum crowd hasn’t seen much from him.

That’s because in the exhibition win over Northwestern and Monday’s triumph, Buchanan played just 16 minutes while being whistled for four fouls against the Wildcats and spent just 14 minutes on the floor against the Knights after being called for four more fouls.

So he’s played with little flow so far, but expect that to change soon. Otzelberger certainly does, anyway.

“He told me that I’m gonna have a great game (Thursday), I’m gonna get a lot of minutes, I’m n to gonna foul,” said Buchanan, who still grabbed two of ISU’s nine offensive rebounds in is short stint on Monday. “He said you’re gonna get a double-double, you’re gonna have fun. So it’s just being smart. He told me just to be more aggressive.”

Otzelberger demands that off all of his players, particularly on defense — and with an added emphasis on forcing turnovers. The Cyclones shined in that regard against FDU, which they outscored 24-to-5 off those takeaways. ISU’s also been elite in that area during Otzelberger’s full four-plus season tenure, finishing among the top 15 teams nationally each time in turnover percentage defense, according to KenPom.

“We want to turn our opponents over, specifically (with) live ball turnovers,” Otzelberger said. “We want to be great at turning those turnovers into points.”

So does Buchanan, who can play a key role in swiping the basketball if he can avoid his recent foul troubles. He snared two steals despite playing only 14 minutes on Monday, so he clearly has a nose for the basketball — and the athleticism and canniness to be a prime disrupter.

“Blake’s going to be much more impactful than what he’s been to this point,” Otzelberger said.

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