Iowa State Men’s Basketball: Keys to Victory Against Kansas Jayhawks

Jan 9, 2013; Lawrence, KS, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Travis Releford (24) and Iowa State Cyclones guard Will Clyburn (21) go after the ball in overtime at Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas won the game 97-89 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

The Iowa State Cyclones (19-8, 9-5) host the Kansas Jayhawks (23-4, 11-3) in Ames on Monday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 pm CT. Here are keys to the game for the ISU men’s basketball team to extend their home winning streak and knock off another top 25 team at home.

Click here for more coverage including players to watch and the Clones Confidential prediction.

• Melvin Ejim and Georges Niang need to stay away from foul trouble. In reality, the Cyclones have just a six-man rotation. Tyrus McGee won’t be able to attack inside like he has been the last couple games because Jeff Withey is a beast. Iowa State needs all the size they can get, and they need to be on the court the majority of the night.
• Force turnovers. Even in the early stages of the season when the Cyclones were turning the ball over, they were able to get Kansas to turn it over more in Allen Fieldhouse in the first matchup. ISU currently holds a better turnover margin than the Jayhawks.
• Attack from the perimeter early. Kansas has the field goal percentage defense in the nation at 35.5 percent. Iowa State must hit their 3-pointers tonight, and hopefully similar to the success they had against Oklahoma earlier this season.

Projected Starting Lineups

Based off of athletic websites’ game notes.

Iowa State Cyclones

• Georges Niang (31, F, Fr) – 11.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg, .537 fg%
• Melvin Ejim (3, F, Jr) – 11.1 ppg, 9.7 rpg, .380 3p%
• Will Clyburn (21, G, Sr) – 14.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.3 apg
• Korie Lucious (13, G, Sr) – 9.7 ppg, 5.8 apg, .804 ft%
• Chris Babb (2, G, Sr) – 9.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg, .387 3p%

Kansas Jayhawks

• Jeff Withey (5, C, Sr) – 13.6 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 4.0 bpg
• Kevin Young (40, F, Sr) – 7.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, .520 fg%
• Elijah Johnson (15, G, Sr) – 9.1 ppg, 4.4 apg, 3.0 tpg
• Ben McLemore (23, G, Fr) – 16.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, .426 3p%
• Travis Releford (24, G, Sr) – 12.2 ppg, .609 fg%, .449 3p%

Brian Spaen is the lead editor of Clones Confidential. Get more Cyclones coverage by following us on Twitter and Facebook.