Iowa State remembers home loss to Baylor, puts emphasis on rebounding

AMES — Iowa State men's basketball players don't have too many memories of leaving their home court with a loss. Those memories do stick out, though.

The Cyclones have just three home losses since the 2012-13 season, with one loss per year. Kansas was the culprit for taking the first two games in Hilton Coliseum, but it was Baylor that produced perhaps the win that stunned Iowa State the most.

All senior Georges Niang remembers about last season's loss to the Bears is a barrage of 3-pointers that sucked the air out of his home arena.

'I thought we were really smooth sailing,' Niang said. '(Baylor coach) Scott Drew called a timeout before that eight-minute media (timeout), which I thought was bizarre, but it worked out for them. They came out and played really well.'

Whether it was a lack of ISU defense, efficient Baylor offense or both, the reason for the loss didn't matter in the moment. That's why No. 14 Iowa State views its game with No. 25 Baylor on Saturday with high regard.

No, the Bears (11-3, 1-1) don't mean any more to the Cyclones (12-2, 1-1) than any other team on the schedule, but it does give them a chance to have a winning record in this young Big 12 season.

'This is a chance to go plus-one on last year right out of the gate,' said Iowa State coach Steve Prohm. 'It's not going to be easy, Baylor is very good. They played here and won here before so they'll be confident, but we're confident. We've got to do a great job of attacking the zone and do a great job of defending and rebounding.'

Rebounding is Baylor's greatest asset, particularly on the offensive glass. The Bears pull down 41.3 rebounds per game, but rebound more than 40 percent of their misses to average 15.3 offensive boards per game.

'That's just a wrasslin' match honestly,' said Jameel McKay. 'That's not even basketball down there when you play Baylor. It's just a wrestling match and the toughest team is going to get the board. That's how I feel when you wrestle three rounds.'

Rico Gathers averages a double double at 14.1 points and 11.3 rebounds per game with 69 offensive rebounds in 14 contests. He's a big body on the block at 6-foot-8 and 275 pounds and looks more like an NFL defender than basketball player.

Taurean Prince and Johnathan Motley are other lengthy forwards that pick up 5.8 and 4.9 rebounds per game respectively, so ISU guards crashing the glass becomes even more of a necessity.

'I've got a couple inches on (Gathers) so I'll use all my length and stuff,' said senior Jameel McKay. 'Hopefully a lot of rebounds come high so I can use my athletic ability to get it. The ones that come low, I'll just box out like I did against Cincinnati and hope my teammates come in and get it.'

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