A big impression

AMES - As they sit in their apartment breaking down the TCU-Kansas game on Wednesday night, juniors Naz Long and Georges Niang play the part of analysts.

They're studying their upcoming matchups and the ways in which to attack the Horned Frogs defense, whether it be switched up from zone to man-to-man.

'We look for all the things we can do, all the little gaps, zones and how they push the pace, how they don't push the pace,” Long said. 'Honestly we just take everything Coach (Fred) Hoiberg tells us to look out for and kind of do it on our own in our apartment.”

Iowa State hosts TCU today, but it was TCU's game Wednesday against Kansas that snapped the team into focus. The Horned Frogs missed 14 free throws and missed a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer to drop their league record to 1-6.

In TCU's six Big 12 losses, three have been by five points or less and two of those have been on the road. And what really caught Hoiberg's attention in film study is the physical nature of the Horned Frogs in the post.

'They've got big, strong, physical guys,” Hoiberg said. 'They had 26 offensive rebounds against a big Kansas team.”

The Horned Frogs out-rebounded the Jayhawks by 10, and will probably try to impose that size on the smaller ISU lineup. Four of the five TCU starters are at least 6-foot-5, so positioning when shots do go up will be critical for Iowa State.

'We're going to put on our hard hat and really rebound and get them out of their comfort zone,” Niang said. 'They really like to slow the game down and we're going to have to try to do some things to speed them up a little bit.”

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