Iowa-Iowa State breakdown

RECORDS

Iowa 7-2; Iowa State 7-0

TV

6:31 p.m. ESPN2 (Mark Neely, Fran Fraschilla)

LOCATION

Hilton Coliseum, Ames

LINE

Iowa State by 7

SERIES

Iowa leads all-time 43-25; Iowa State has won two straight, including 90-75 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena last year

PROFILE

Iowa received votes in both the AP and USA Today/Coaches poll; Iowa State is ranked No. 2 by the USA Today/Coaches, No. 4 by AP

KEY MATCHUP

Monte Morris vs. Mike Gesell/Anthony Clemmons. No point guard takes care of the ball better than ISU's Morris. He has led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio the last two seasons. In 58 career starts, Morris has 309 assists and only 65 turnovers, remarkable numbers for a point guard in a high-tempo offensive attack.

'He's a very smart player,' Gesell said of Morris. 'He knows how to run an offense. He does a great job of running their offense. It's fun to play against a guy like that. There's no doubt, he's one of the best point guards in the country and it's going to be a great match-up.'

Morris averages 14.9 points and 7.3 assists a game this year. He was named Most Outstanding Player at the Emerald Coast Classic after putting up 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists. He's also a cousin of former Iowa players Roy Marble and Devyn Marble.

'He's got a great burst, and he can score,' Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'So you've got to play him straight up. You can't give him any room at all because he'll shoot it in your face or if you get up on him, he goes by you. Those guys are hard to guard. He's also got really good offensive weapons around him. He's a very unselfish player. He's got a great sense of when to go for himself and when to load up his teammates. I think as a coach that's what you want from your point guard.'

Gesell, a senior, is no slouch, either. While his numbers aren't as eye-popping in comparison, Gesell has produced. This year he averages 7.4 points, 6.9 assists and only 2.2 turnovers a game. He's third among Big Ten players in steals (1.7 per game), second in assists and ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio.

While Morris averages nearly 35 minutes at the point, Iowa also starts veteran Anthony Clemmons alongside Gesell. Clemmons also plays the point and has six or more assists in four games. This season, Clemmons has 40 assists to 15 turns. He also averages 8.6 points a game. Clemmons was terrific as a freshman against the Cyclones with 14 points, eight assists and only one turnover.

KEY STATISTICS

SCORING/OPP: Iowa 83.8/67.2; ISU 86.9/66.6

FG%/OPP FG%: Iowa 47.3/38.6; ISU 51.7/38.3

3PT%/OPP 3PT%: Iowa 40.2/28.4; ISU 37.7/29.3

FT%: Iowa 72.2: ISU 64.4

LIKELY STARTERS

Iowa: G Mike Gesell (6-2); G Anthony Clemmons (6-2); G Peter Jok (6-6); F Jarrod Uthoff (6-9); C Adam Woodbury (7-1)

Iowa State: G Monte Morris (6-3); G Naz Mitrou-Long (6-4); G Abdel Nader (6-6); F Georges Niang (6-8); C Jameel McKay (6-9)

KEY RESERVES

Iowa: G Brady Ellingson (6-4); F Dominique Uhl (6-9); F Nicholas Baer (6-7); F Ahmad Wagner (6-5)

Iowa State: G Matt Thomas (6-4); G Hallice Cooke (6-3)

WORTH WATCHING

Iowa State forward Georges Niang and Iowa counterpart Jarrod Uthoff are among the nation's best power forwards. Uthoff leads Iowa with 18.2 points, third best in the Big Ten. Niang averages a team-high 18.6 points. Both are inside-outside guys who can shoot from anywhere on the floor. Niang is a better ballhandler but Uthoff is right there in nearly every other area. Both competed at the Nike Skills Academy last summer and are likely NBA draft picks next June.

BOTTOM LINE

Iowa State boasts more athletic weapons that most teams in the country. The Cyclones have explosive players at point guard (Morris), center (Jameel McKay) and power forward (Niang), as well as a big-time shooter (Naz Mitrou-Long) and a do-it-all type in Abdel Nader. There might be no better running team in the country, especially in transition because all of their skill sets are in play.

'Of the seven guys they play most of the time, six of them are really good 3-point shooters,' Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'So that makes it difficult for any team that plays against them. You've got to get back and pretty much match up to anybody. McKay's going to the front of the rim and if you don't guard him, they could alley oop and dunk the ball. That's a difficult team to defend in transition.

'That's why intelligent shot selection is going to be important. Intelligent decision making in general, because they're especially good off blocked shots, off turnovers and bad shots. They're really, really tough then in transition.'

Iowa hardly fits the Washington Generals role in this game, however. The Hawkeyes average almost as many points (83.8) as the Cyclones (86.9) and have played a much more difficult schedule. The Hawkeyes have faced likely NCAA tournament teams Dayton, Notre Dame and Wichita State at neutral sites as well as Florida State and Marquette, who could get there, too. Iowa dropped a pair of close games to Dayton and Notre Dame but had chances to win late. Only one opponent has played ISU close, and that was Colorado in Sioux Falls. The Cyclones' Power-5 opponents were Virginia Tech and Illinois, neither of which are likely to earn NCAA tournament bids.

Iowa has an outside shooter to match Mitrou-Long in junior Peter Jok. The Hawkeyes' point guard combination of Gesell and Clemmons are close to what Morris provides the Cyclones. Woodbury and McKay are two completely different centers but equal in effectiveness. McKay is, of course, more explosive, while Woodbury is physical, active and has good athletic ability that belies his 7-foot-1 frame

What will have a major impact on this game is how the role players perform. Nader has killed Iowa the last two years, averaging 18.5 points a game. When he plays 20 minutes, ISU is 15-1. Mitrou-Long scored 21 last year. Can Iowa's reserves of Brady Ellingson, Dominique Uhl, Ahmad Wagner and Nicholas Baer provide close to a stalemate? That remains to be seen.

PREDICTION

Few places around the country are as difficult on road teams as Hilton Coliseum. The fans are loud, vocal and passionate and especially so in this in-state rivalry. Then you add one of the nation's most talented groups to the mix, it's a meat-grinder for road teams. ISU is 65-5 at Hilton the last five years and 4-0 against Iowa at home.

But this Iowa team has played remarkably well away from home the last year or so. Iowa won road games at North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State and Indiana last year. The Hawkeyes start five upperclassmen, including four seniors who have played at Hilton. This year, Iowa smoked Marquette and likely NBA lottery pick Henry Ellenson in a semi-tough road atmosphere 89-61.

I think Iowa competes for 40 minutes, but I'm not sure the Hawkeyes can rattle Morris or slow ISU's transition enough to establish any kind of tempo. It then comes down to making perimeter shots. Surprisingly, Iowa's 3-point percentage is better than Iowa State's, but playing on the road is a different deal. While I think it's close, I'm not sure Iowa can keep the ISU lion in its cage for 40 minutes.

Iowa State 83, Iowa 79

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com