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Stifling St. Louis
Rebounds fuel transition game in ISU win
By Bobby La Gesse
Date Posted: 2009-11-27
CHICAGO — Iowa State men’s basketball coach Greg McDermott writes two things on the dry erase board before every game.
No. 1: Rebound.
No. 2: Run in transition.
Once the Cyclones started dominating the defensive glass, they were able to run away from St. Louis, 65-54, on Friday to set up a game with Northwestern today at 7 p.m. for the Chicago Invitational championship.
“We can’t do two unless we do one,” forward Craig Brackins said. “It’s a straight-up truth.”
After a slow, grind-it-out first half, ISU (6-0) was finally able to push the ball early in the second half. It resulted in a 13-0 run that let the Cyclones turn a one-point deficit into a 12-point advantage.
ISU wasn’t able to play at its usual quick pace early because the Cyclones weren’t in a position to grab any defensive rebounds.
ISU used a press for the first 20 minutes and the Billikens (4-1) routinely broke through it for easy buckets or dunks. St. Louis shot 48.0 percent in the first half.
“They didn’t make a shot outside of three feet the first half,” McDermott said.
That changed once the Cyclones abandoned the press.
After the Billikens hit two quick buckets to take a 31-30 lead, ISU held St. Louis scoreless for 6 minutes, 23 seconds, grabbed a few defensive rebounds and was able to implement its high-tempo offense for the first time all night.
The result was a 13-0 run that gave the Cyclones a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“We applied some smarter pressure in the second half, which I think made our defense a little bit more effective,” McDermott said.
And the offense, too.
After the 13-0 run, ISU added a bucket from Diante Garrett and 3-pointers from Jamie Vanderbeken and Lucca Staiger to go ahead 51-37.
“They started leaving Lucca and Scottie (Christopherson) open and they started hitting shots,” Garrett said. “That started helping us out and Craig started going off down low and we made our free throws.”
Brackins and Garrett led the Cyclones with 16 points each. Marquis Gilstrap added 11 points while Staiger had 10.
“We had it in us to do what we needed to do to win this game,” McDermott said. “(St. Louis) coach (Rich) Majerus has a very good team. They are young. I am just pleased we found a way to beat them.”
ISU went into the half up 30-27 as both teams dealt with foul trouble. Four Cyclones, including Brackins, spent part of the half on the bench. The Billikens’ leading scorer, Kwamain Mitchell, committed two quick fouls early and scored only five points in the contest.
St. Louis survived without him by playing suffocating defense. The Billikens held ISU to 32.3 percent shooting.
In what amounted to his team’s first true test of the year, McDermott said he liked the resiliency his team showed.
Especially on the defensive glass.
“We found a way to win an ugly game,” McDermott said. “We didn’t shoot it particularly well. We missed some point-blank shots the first half that we are normally going to make, but like I said, we stayed with it and we finally got our offense clicking midway through the second half.”
Bobby La Gesse can be reached at (515) 663-6929 or rlagesse@amestrib.com.
Rebounds fuel transition game in ISU win
By Bobby La Gesse
Date Posted: 2009-11-27
Iowa State's Marquis Gilstrap tries to keep possession of the ball Friday against St. Louis' Christian Salecich. Gilstrap scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the Cyclones' 65-54 win.
Associated Press photo by Nam Y. Huh
Associated Press photo by Nam Y. Huh
CHICAGO — Iowa State men’s basketball coach Greg McDermott writes two things on the dry erase board before every game.
No. 1: Rebound.
No. 2: Run in transition.
Once the Cyclones started dominating the defensive glass, they were able to run away from St. Louis, 65-54, on Friday to set up a game with Northwestern today at 7 p.m. for the Chicago Invitational championship.
“We can’t do two unless we do one,” forward Craig Brackins said. “It’s a straight-up truth.”
After a slow, grind-it-out first half, ISU (6-0) was finally able to push the ball early in the second half. It resulted in a 13-0 run that let the Cyclones turn a one-point deficit into a 12-point advantage.
ISU wasn’t able to play at its usual quick pace early because the Cyclones weren’t in a position to grab any defensive rebounds.
ISU used a press for the first 20 minutes and the Billikens (4-1) routinely broke through it for easy buckets or dunks. St. Louis shot 48.0 percent in the first half.
“They didn’t make a shot outside of three feet the first half,” McDermott said.
That changed once the Cyclones abandoned the press.
After the Billikens hit two quick buckets to take a 31-30 lead, ISU held St. Louis scoreless for 6 minutes, 23 seconds, grabbed a few defensive rebounds and was able to implement its high-tempo offense for the first time all night.
The result was a 13-0 run that gave the Cyclones a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“We applied some smarter pressure in the second half, which I think made our defense a little bit more effective,” McDermott said.
And the offense, too.
After the 13-0 run, ISU added a bucket from Diante Garrett and 3-pointers from Jamie Vanderbeken and Lucca Staiger to go ahead 51-37.
“They started leaving Lucca and Scottie (Christopherson) open and they started hitting shots,” Garrett said. “That started helping us out and Craig started going off down low and we made our free throws.”
Brackins and Garrett led the Cyclones with 16 points each. Marquis Gilstrap added 11 points while Staiger had 10.
“We had it in us to do what we needed to do to win this game,” McDermott said. “(St. Louis) coach (Rich) Majerus has a very good team. They are young. I am just pleased we found a way to beat them.”
ISU went into the half up 30-27 as both teams dealt with foul trouble. Four Cyclones, including Brackins, spent part of the half on the bench. The Billikens’ leading scorer, Kwamain Mitchell, committed two quick fouls early and scored only five points in the contest.
St. Louis survived without him by playing suffocating defense. The Billikens held ISU to 32.3 percent shooting.
In what amounted to his team’s first true test of the year, McDermott said he liked the resiliency his team showed.
Especially on the defensive glass.
“We found a way to win an ugly game,” McDermott said. “We didn’t shoot it particularly well. We missed some point-blank shots the first half that we are normally going to make, but like I said, we stayed with it and we finally got our offense clicking midway through the second half.”
Bobby La Gesse can be reached at (515) 663-6929 or rlagesse@amestrib.com.
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