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Even without Fred Hoiberg in town, the Iowa State Cyclones were expected to compete for a national championship this season. Although they have dropped a good amount of games (11 to be exact), they still remain a title contender, and they have a No. 4 seed in the 2016 NCAA tournament to prove it.
Iowa State will take on the Iona Gaels in its first tourney game.
While Iona is a No. 13 seed and Iowa State a No. 4, this contest is no gimme for the Cyclones. After all, just look back to what this squad did in the Big Dance last season (dropped its first contest as a No. 3 seed in major upset fashion).
What To Watch For
When talking about Iowa State basketball, it is almost impossible to not bring up this name: Georges Niang. Niang is leading the Cyclones in scoring with 19.8 points per game, and he probably has not forgotten about last season’s early exit. Since Iowa State is averaging 81.8 points per game, it is easy to come to this conclusion: Niang is not alone.
Iona has a lethal scorer on its squad as well. Enter A.J. English. English is averaging a whopping 22.4 points per game, and the Gaels are averaging 79.6 PPG as a team.
Prediction
What Iona has going for it entering the tournament: It is riding quite the momentum train as it enters the dance on an eight-game winning streak. All of the pressure is on Iowa State since the Gaels are the No. 13 seed.
What the Cyclones have going for them entering the Big Dance: They have one of the best players in the country, they have been challenged all season long and they are easily the favorite to come away with the victory.
However, as we saw last season, no one is safe in the dance, especially not the high-scoring Cyclones. Time to see if lightning (if you will) will strike the bracket in back-to-back seasons.
Iona 70, Cyclones 80
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