No. 4 Auburn and No. 5 Iowa State will meet Monday within the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii, in a conflict of faculty basketball powers that has extra the look of a match championship recreation than that of a first-round contest.
Whereas the high-level matchup is uncommon for the opening spherical, it does give the Tigers and Cyclones an opportunity to see how they stack up among the many NCAA elite.
And though Iowa State (3-0) has hammered three mid-major groups, Auburn (4-0) already owns a measuring-stick victory at then-No. 4 Houston on Nov. 9.
Now comes tougher competitors because the match contains No. 2 UConn and No. 10 North Carolina, in addition to three different groups that arrive in Maui with undefeated data — Memphis, Colorado and Dayton.
“The subsequent 4 video games are in opposition to Elite 8-caliber groups,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl mentioned, referring to the match video games in addition to together with a Dec. 4 date at Duke. “It will be a real take a look at and a real measure of the place we’re at.”
The Tigers are at the moment at a superb place. Along with their win over Houston, they’ve overwhelmed up on three mid-majors.
Johni Broome made 13 of 17 pictures to complete with 30 factors in Auburn’s 102-69 victory over North Alabama on Monday. He additionally pulled down 17 rebounds, whereas Dylan Cardwell made 5 of 6 pictures to complete with 12 factors.
“Our bigs shot an unbelievable share,” Pearl mentioned. “Johni and Dylan are two of one of the best facilities in school basketball and we have got each of them.”
In the meantime, the remainder of the Tigers’ starters scored in double figures. Denver Jones delivered 13 factors and 9 assists within the win.
Enjoying three video games in three days will probably be an enormous change for Iowa State, which has been one of many least energetic groups in Division I. Its solely three video games have come on the three Mondays in November.
“We have had these experiences in years previous. Final 12 months it did not go as effectively,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger mentioned, referring to final November when the Cyclones misplaced two of three video games within the ESPN Occasions Invitational.
“Sure, you need to win each recreation, however final 12 months we had an amazing season and we weren’t nearly as good at this level,” Otzelberger mentioned of his crew, which went 29-8 and reached the Candy 16 within the NCAA Match.
With 5 double-digit scorers, the Cyclones have proven stability, led by backcourt gamers Curtis Jones (15 factors per recreation), Tamin Lipsey (13.7) and Keshon Gilbert (12.3).
St. Mary’s switch Joshua Jefferson recorded his first double-double for his new crew by gathering 16 factors and 10 rebounds in Iowa State’s 87-52 victory over IU Indianapolis final Monday. He made all seven of his pictures from the ground.
On Monday evening, the Cyclones face a crew that’s “enjoying as effectively or higher than anybody within the nation,” Otzelberger mentioned.
“They are a great crew. They strain defensively, actually get after you. They have great depth. They attempt to put on you down,” Otzelberger mentioned. “Within the Houston recreation, Houston had the lead early and that is what occurred.”
–Subject Degree Media
