Lamar vs. Iowa State men’s basketball: Game preview and prediction

After a disappointing finish at the CBE Classic, Iowa State (3-1) is looking to rebound against Lamar (2-4) before having three straight tough games. It’s a perfect opportunity to get their mind straight and fine tune some issues they had going up against a big Maryland team.

Lamar Cardinals vs. (20)Iowa State Cyclones

James H. Hilton Coliseum | Ames, Iowa
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014 | Tipoff – 7:00 PM CT
TV/Stream: Cyclones.tv

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Lamar won’t present the problems the Terrapins did, but the starting bigs the Cyclones will face are 6-foot-6 forward Tyran de Lattibeaudiere and 6-foot-10 center LeMon Gregory. Lattibeaudiere, a transfer, is clearly the best player on the team. He currently averages 15.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game and had a career high of 16 points against Texas Southern. Gregory is good for at least six points a game, and he’ll have to up his performance with Lattibeaudiere in Hilton Coliseum for the Cardinals to be a problem.

Series history

This is the first meeting between both Iowa State and Lamar. The Cyclones are undefeated against the Southland Conference (7-0) and defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by 30 points last season.

Betting odds

There are is no line or total points set by Vegas on this game as of late Monday night. If there was, Iowa State would be at least 20-point favorites.

Projected starters

Nov 22, 2014; Bloomington, IN, USA; Lamar Cardinals center LeMon Gregory (42) shoots the ball over Indiana Hoosiers forward Troy Williams (5) in the second half of the game at Assembly Hall. Indiana won 85-72. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Lamar

• Tyran de Lattibeaudiere (F, #5) – 15.3 ppg, 2.3 apg, 7.3 rpg
• LeMon Gregory (C, #42) – 5 ppg, 2 rpg, 0.2 bpg
• Quan Jones (G, #24) – 5.3 ppg, 1.7 apg, 1.5 rpg
• Preston Mattingly (G, #22) – 5.5 ppg, 2.0 apg, 2 rpg
• Anthony Holliday (G, #1) – 10.6 ppg, 1.8 apg, 2.8 rpg

Iowa State

• Georges Niang (F, #31) – 19.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 3.8 apg
• Dustin Hogue (F, #22) – 12.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.3 apg
• Monte Morris (G, #11) – 10 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 6.5 apg
• Naz Long (G, #15) – 12.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.8 spg
• Bryce Dejean-Jones (G, #13) – 14.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.8 apg

What to watch for

Lamar is an inferior opponent when looking at matchups. Still, especially after a loss, you want to see Iowa State back to form after a week off. Everything should revert back to the norm — lots of assists and a much better shooting percentage. Georges Niang can’t get into foul trouble, Monte Morris is back to solid distributing, and the team doesn’t get pissed off and chuck up bad shots when things aren’t going their way.

This team didn’t handle things well a week ago today when shots weren’t going down. That must change tonight or they’ll all of a sudden be in a tight battle against the Cardinals, which would not be a good thing.

Prediction

In Fred Hoiberg we trust. I’m sure the head coach did everything in this power to turn that game against Maryland into a learning experience for everyone. The Cyclones are incredibly good, and sometimes you have to take a step back to take a couple steps forward. Expect a big game from everyone in an easy blowout victory.

Iowa State 82, Lamar 55