Deonte Burton, Iowa State eye consistency moving forward

AMES — Deonte Burton has all the physical tools you would want in a basketball player.

At 6-foot-5 and 250-pounds, he's caught in the middle of being a guard and forward. Burton is almost too big for guards to get a good handle on and just small enough to get around bigger forwards.

His not-so-secret weapon is his athleticism, and he has shown the ability to make shots and get physical inside for rebounds. The next step in Burton's evolution has to be putting all of those tangible qualities together every time he steps on the court.

In Iowa State's road trip to No. 3 Baylor on Wednesday (7 p.m. on ESPNews), his involvement on both ends of the floor becomes even more important.

'We need the Gonzaga Deonte Burton and it's not about the 29 points, it's about the 12 rebounds,' said Cyclones coach Steve Prohm. 'It's about the toughness he showed down in Florida fighting against Miami, fighting against Gonzaga.

'We need him to be really good for us, he knows that, I know that and we've just got to get him back playing to that level.'

Even in that loss to the top-10 Bulldogs, Burton's 29 points on 13-for-24 shooting with 12 rebounds in 36 minutes has been the height of his Cyclones (9-3, 1-0) career so far. There have been the not-so-nice nights also.

Against Drake and Texas Tech, Burton went 3-for-20 from the field and grabbed 13 rebounds. In between those games, against Mississippi Valley State, he went 3-for-5 and had eight points and nine rebounds. Hence, the roller coaster ride Burton has felt himself go on.

In Burton's view, good defense and methodical play around the rim will naturally lead to offense that coincides with the flow of the game. He knows not to get too high or too low on any given night.

'Basketball is like life,' Burton said. 'You'll always have ups and you'll always have downs. You just have to try to make as many ups as you can and when you're having a down game, do something different.'

In last season's overtime loss in Waco against the Bears (13-0) Burton played 27 minutes — his fourth most of the year — and had 14 points and six rebounds while shooting 4-for-10 from two-point range.

Against Baylor's 6-foot-10 Johnathan Motley and 7-foot Jo Lual-Acuil Jr., Burton's athleticism and ability to be a creative scorer inside makes him the X-Factor for the smaller ISU lineup. In order to do that, it all starts with Iowa State running out in transition.

'Deonte's going to be able to make some plays around the rim like he always has when we've played against Baylor,' said point guard Monte Morris. 'We've just got to make jump shots and attack them. The few times we've struggled with them, we let the zone attack us. A lot of that is on me too for not being aggressive.

'Going down there I'm going to be a lot more aggressive to attack the zone and just live with the results. That's the way we're going to have to do it to win.'

Iowa State used its four-guard lineup to much success without Burton in a win against Texas Tech. But if Burton's on his game, he changes the Cyclones' dynamic instantly.

'(Prohm) challenges me every day to be the best Deonte and teammate I can be,' Burton said. 'I try my best every day.'

Matt Thomas sits out practice with ankle tweak, likely to play Wednesday

Iowa State shooting guard Matt Thomas sat out long stretches in the second half of the conference opener Friday as he continues to deal with an ankle tweak he suffered against Mississippi Valley State two weeks ago.

He played 18 minutes against Texas Tech, but sat out Iowa State's practice Sunday. Coach Steve Prohm said the expectation is to have Thomas available at Baylor, although he doesn't know how limited the senior will be.

'Monte (Morris) was joking I think this was the first practice he's missed in four years, so if he can't practice (Monday) we'll sit him out,' Prohm said. 'I'd rather have him ready for Wednesday because we're going to need him, need his perimeter shooting for sure. He'll play Wednesday for sure.'

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