Baylor vs. Iowa State basketball: Five players to watch
By Doug Winkey
I trust you have all recovered from Iowa State basketball’s brawl that was the West Virginia game on Saturday. There is little respite from the early conference slate, though, as ISU travels to Waco, Texas, to take on the Baylor Bears. Here are my players to watch for each team.
Baylor
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Kenny Chery (#1, Sr G, 5-foot-11, 180 lbs.)
Chery is my first Bear to watch. The Canadian is second on the team in scoring at 10.2 ppg and leads in assists with 4.1 dishes per game. He is also chipping in 1.6 steals. While he is undersized compared to most guards, he is still one of the primary offensive weapons for Baylor from the backcourt. Look for Monte Morris to try and lock him down most of the night.
Taurean Prince (#21, Jr F, 6-foot-7, 215 lbs.)
Prince is next up, and while Chery is the team’s floor general, Prince is a jack-of-all-trades type. The swingman averages 12.1 ppg (first on the team) to go along with 5.4 rpg, 1.1 spg, 1.1 bpg and 1.0 apg. He shoots an amazing 49% from three-point land. Bryce Dejean-Jones will probably see this assignment given both players’ versatility.
Royce O’Neale (#00, Sr F, 6-foot-6, 215 lbs.)
Lastly is O’Neale, who currently averages 9.6 ppg and 6.1 rpg. Similar in stature to Prince, O’Neale has the stats of someone who bangs in the post and makes solid plays rather than fill the stat sheet. Dustin Hogue will probably handle O’Neale, with Jameel McKay and Georges Niang rotating at different times.
Iowa State
Naz Long (#15, Jr G, 6-foot-4, 210 lbs.)
On the Iowa State side, let’s go with Naz Long. He had a poor game against WVU, only going 1-6 from the field for three points. Baylor’s perimeter D doesn’t appear particularly daunting (the two main guards both stand under 6-foot), so this could be a good bounce-back game for Threesus of Nazareth.
Georges Niang (#31, Jr F, 6-foot-8, 230 lbs.)
Lastly we will go with Niang. Baylor, like everyone else in America, knows that Georges is ISU’s top dog and they have a plethora of players between Prince, O’Neale, and Rico Gathers, who all stand 6-foot-6 or taller, to throw at him and try and cause trouble. I’m not worried, but it could be an interesting chess game to see who draws Niang given the makeup of both teams.
Check back to the site in the next day or so to get a full preview of the game. Go Cyclones!