Iowa State's Abdel Nader emerges with West Virginia up next

AMES — Abdel Nader has a way of flying under the radar, even when his on-court play warrants otherwise.

A coaching decision to not play Jameel McKay in a home win against TCU, plus 27 points from Georges Niang with a 23-point and 14 rebound performance from Deonte Burton, all did their best to overshadow Nader.

The senior's 24 points — including five 3-pointers — with three assists and two blocks might look pedestrian when stacked up against the other storylines, but Nader's value is anything but. With a road trip to West Virginia for Big Monday at 8 p.m. up next, Nader is hitting his stride at the perfect time.

'He turned into Steph Curry overnight,' Niang said. 'He's put a ton of work in in the gym, so that's a credit to him to be able to shoot the ball the way he is. I think it just speaks volumes about his work. That was a huge lift for us.'

Nader was honored before Saturday's game — along with junior Monte Morris — for surpassing 1,000 career points and proceeded to have his second-straight 20-point game while tying a career-high in 3-pointers made.

In an effort to build up confidence for a postseason run, Nader said he's feeling as confident now as ever. Staying aggressive is always his focus, but so is gaining confidence to go along with it.

'Coming off a second good game, my confidence is really going right now,' Nader said. 'Confidence is everything in this game so when I'm flowing and going, I don't feel like I can be stopped.'

For as much as Nader's improvement has impressed the people in his own locker room, it's caught the eye of opposing coaches just as much with his 6-foot-6, 225-pound frame.

'I haven't been around him other than on tape, but I've got to believe he's a great kid and he competes,' said TCU coach Trent Johnson. 'I don't think he gets a lot of notoriety, but he's a handful now. Whew, a handful.'

Even with Nader's emergence in the last two games, the Cyclones (19-8, 8-6) will need a good performance on the boards if they want to beat the Mountaineers (20-7, 9-5) on the road. West Virginia won in Hilton Coliseum on Feb. 2 and out-rebounded Iowa State by 17 and had 17 offensive boards with 18 second-chance points.

Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said there is 'no question' McKay will be available to play Monday. Whether McKay plays or not, the Cyclones will have to compete on the glass with potentially less size as they search for their fourth Big 12 road win.

'We've had four really tough road losses in conference play with three overtimes and one where we had a shot to beat Oklahoma in regulation and we didn't finish,' Prohm said. 'We just want to put ourselves in a position to finish.'