Dallas ? Add Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy to the gaggle who expect to see Kansas University in early April at the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans.
“I thought we met a team that has a chance to win the national championship,” Eustachy said after KU clipped the Cyclones, 89-74, in Friday’s quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament. “They just overpowered us.”
King of the Kansas overpowerers was Jeff Graves. The 6-foot-9, 255-pound junior scored a career-high 16 points and retrieved a dozen boards. In fact, Graves compiled better numbers than Nick Collison, the coaches’ choice for Big 12 player of the year. Collison had 14 points and eight rebounds.
Was Iowa State surprised by Graves’ performance?
“He didn’t so much surprise me,” said ISU junior Jackson Vroman, who had a monster game with 24 points and 12 rebounds. “He played well against us the two other times.”
Not as good, however, as Graves did Friday. In the two previous meetings — both easy KU wins — Graves collected a combined 11 points and 15 rebounds.
“It was more disappointing than surprising,” Vroman said about Graves’ outing. “We couldn’t keep him off the glass.”
The 6-10 Vroman took the blame for Graves’ big day, saying teammate Jared Homan deserved the credit for limiting Collison.
“I didn’t do a good job,” Vroman said, “but it’s hard to double-down when they have such good outside shooters, like (Kirk) Hinrich.”
Actually, Hinrich was the only Jayhawk who shot poorly. The All-Big 12 senior guard missed 10 of 16 shots, but finished with 14 points. Take away Hinrich’s 6-of-16 shooting and Kansas would have shot an astonishing 67.4 percent (31 of 46).
Then again, Iowa State may have shot much better than its 40 percent if Hinrich hadn’t played.
“Hinrich is a fantastic defender,” Eustachy said, “and (Aaron) Miles is right there with him.”
Hinrich and Miles limited Tim Barnes and Jake Sullivan, the Cyclones’ best outside shooters, to 13 and six points, respectively. Barnes was 4-for-12 from the floor, and Sullivan, who sported a bandage on his noggin late after he collided with the chin of KU’s Michael Lee, was 2-for-11.
“We had a lot of breakdowns today because of who we were playing,” Eustachy said. “We wanted to keep the score in the 60s and control the tempo, and it got away from us.”
Iowa State’s players and coaches hope to hear from National Invitation Tournament officials Sunday night. The Cyclones’ 16-13 record should merit an NIT bid.
“Some teams look at the NIT as a disappointment,” Eustachy said, “but we look at it as a positive step in the right direction. As a team, we’ve improved as much as any team we’ve had.”
Case in point: Vroman, a junior-college transfer who managed only eight points and 11 rebounds combined in his first two games against KU.
“He kind of mirrors our team,” Eustachy said. “He’s improved as much as any player from start to finish as I’ve had.”