Steve Prohm on Iowa State's stumble in the final minutes at Allen Fieldhouse. Tommy Birch/The Register
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Here’s the statistic I remind Iowa State fans who aren’t as concerned about Tuesday’s 83-78 loss at No. 12 Kansas as they are the Cyclones’ 0-4 Big 12 record heading into a Saturday home game against a Baylor team that’s beatable:
There’s a reason Steve Prohm’s program is among just 10 of 351 Division I schools that have reached at least the last six NCAA Tournaments in a row.
There’s a reason that a very select few can claim impressive NCAA Tournament longevity like that.
It’s because everyone except Kansas (28 NCAA tourneys in a row), Duke (22), Michigan State (20), Gonzaga (19) and Wisconsin (19) sometimes have rebuilding seasons, too. It’s because every once in a while, there’s that dip Iowa State is going through now.
It’s a tough learning curve that will get tougher if this team doesn’t start playing well down the stretch.
Tuesday, before the always-raucous crowd at Allen Fieldhouse, it was a 73-all game with 3:40 to play after Cameron Lard’s tip-in — and what followed was the reason this team lost the past three games.
When the going gets tough, according to the cliche, the Cyclones aren’t tough enough.
They missed six of their next seven shots after the game’s seventh and last tie. Lindell Wigginton had two turnovers and Lard had one, but that’s just part of the story.
While Iowa State was again futile in the stretch, Kansas was winning the game by making four of its final five field goals.
“We’ve just got to add that extra five minutes,” Donovan Jackson said.
But when?
Iowa State led Texas by two points with 58 seconds left in regulation at Hilton, and then lost in overtime.
The Cyclones lost after leading by eight points with 3½ minutes left in regulation at Oklahoma State.
Notice a trend?
You don’t replace four very good starters overnight. You don’t win at places like Kansas without help off the bench.
Tuesday, Cyclones non-starters shot a combined 1-for-6 from the field while combining for just two points. You might as well add starter Solomon Young to that list, as well, because he had more fouls than points — 4-to-1 — during his 15 minutes on the floor.
Prohm can’t just snap his fingers and — poof — great stuff suddenly starts happening again.
He’s put his team in position to win every Big 12 game — except that night he said his guys “no-showed” at home against Kansas State.
At some point, it falls on the players to make plays.
“Iowa State reminds me of Oklahoma last year,” said Fran Fraschilla, ESPN analyst for Tuesday night’s game. “Oklahoma lost incredibly tough games — like Iowa State has.
“They don’t have Trae Young coming in like Oklahoma did after last season, but (grad transfer sit-out) Marial Shayok will be really good. The freshmen coming in are good, too.
“Lindell Wigginton (27 points in 40 minutes Tuesday) is a wonderful player who’s got to stay at least two years. He’s good now, but he can be great.
“They just have to scratch and claw this year. You can’t lose close home games.”
As for Fraschilla’s Oklahoma comparison, the Sooners reached the 2016 Final Four. A season later, they opened the Big 12 with four losses in a row, won two straight, and then followed that with a six-game losing streak en route to a 5-13 conference record.
And now?
Coach Lon Kruger’s team is ranked ninth with a 13-2 record, thanks largely to Young, not only the best freshman in the nation, but likely one of the top five regardless of class.
Just like that, the Sooners went from the NCAA Tournament to winning just five Big 12 games — and now to being a top-10 team.
It’s the fickle, cyclical nature of college basketball, where one season you’re on top of the world — or in Iowa State’s case, wondering where you’ll be seeded in the NCAA Tournament — and another you’re 0-4 and still looking for that elusive first Big 12 victory.
Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson has been with the Register for parts of five decades. Randy writes opinion and analysis of Iowa State football and basketball. You can reach Randy at [email protected] or on Twitter at @RandyPete.