Iowa State looking to build off Kansas win at Texas

AMES — Iowa State men's basketball coach Steve Prohm issued a word of caution to his players.

A win at No. 3 Kansas was — and is — a signature win that moves the Cyclones back into NCAA tournament projections. That shouldn't be where the accomplishments end, though.

'We've got to be humble and we've got to build off this,' Prohm said. 'That win is only going to be as good as what we do over the next couple weeks.

'It was great, but now it's only as good as what we do to build off it. That's why this game is big tomorrow.'

The one-game-at-a-time cliché is commonplace in sports, but that's just how this Iowa State team will move off the bubble and into a sixth-straight NCAA tournament bid. A road trip to Texas on Tuesday (8 p.m. ESPN2) is just as crucial as Saturday was.

'No game is a gimme so that's why coming in there is huge,' guard Naz Mitrou-Long said. 'We go to Texas and lose, I think it takes a lot away from Saturday. You have to keep it rolling, use what we did Saturday and use it to boost us.'

What the Cyclones (14-8, 6-4) did Saturday was issue a barrage of 3-pointers on the Jayhawks. They went 18-for-34 in the overtime win, and when Prohm and the staff dissected film, they were consistently getting the looks they wanted.

Iowa State had a balance of motion and ball movement in the half court, but utilized some isolation matchups. Point guard Monte Morris does a lot of that work, but guard Deonte Burton is perhaps the biggest matchup problem for opponents given his size and athleticism.

Prohm said he is still trying to find the right balance with placing these players in isolation.

'There is a fine line between freedom and if you micromanage him, is he going to make those shots that he made that helped us win the game?' Prohm said. 'That's where there's a fine line. I thought he did a lot better job.'

'I thought he was a lot more under control. He had a couple shots that if you were really going to critique and chart you'd take away, but we need him to be efficient every game. I thought he made good strides on Saturday.'

Burton, who was named Big 12 Player of the Week on Monday, had 29 points and eight rebounds at Kansas and averaged 20 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.5 steals in two games last week.

There are moments when Burton tends to freelance, as evidenced by his 3-point bucket early in the shot clock over Kansas' Josh Jackson in transition. He's able to dissect defense and analyze matchups, but usually relies on his intangibles.

'I guess I'm feeling good at that moment,' Burton said. 'I'm not really thinking of the shot selection. I'm just feeling good and I take the shot.

'I would say my game has been the same, it's just the fruits of my labor are showing now.'

The Longhorns (9-14, 3-7) have been victims of their youth and lack of solid point guard play, and lost the first matchup with Iowa State 79-70 in Ames. Texas is 9-4 at home, losing only to No. 10 West Virginia (74-72) and TCU (64-61) in mid-January.

Jarrett Allen, a 6-foot-11 freshman forward, leads the team in scoring (12.7 points per game) and rebounding (8.4 per game). A Texas win would give it a two-game cushion ahead of Oklahoma in the Big 12 cellar.

'This Texas game is just as big as any game we've played,' Mitrou-Long said. 'It's the most important game of our lives coming on Tuesday.'