Twister Sister Forecast: Oranges found in Storrs

This will represent the 24th appearance in the tournament for the Cyclones, including each of the last seven and 17 of the last 19. This will also mark the 14th appearance for Syracuse. The Orange have only reached the second weekend once, but were able to stretch their 2016 run to the national championship game where they ultimately lost to UConn.

Even with Crooks, the Cyclones live and die by the three Unfortunately, Iowa State experienced the dark side of high volume three point shooting during the Big 12 tournament against Arizona State. Audi Crooks had just four points in the first half, all by free throws. That was due to Arizona State negating any potential entry passes to the second team All-American and forcing Iowa State to attempt a sky high 36 three pointers.

This is a very risky gamble for the defensive team as Iowa State currently ranks 12th in the country in three-point percentage. Unfortunately, 7-36 from the field was too rough of a performance for the Cyclones to overcome as they fell to the Sun Devils 77-68. It was a tough game to watch, but I don’t think there was anything inherently wrong with how Iowa State was preparing themselves.

Many of those attempts were open, and if they shot their normal percentage of 36%, they suddenly shot 13-36 and they won by nine. The officials called 51 total fouls which seemed to kill any flow in the game which I believe Iowa State needs to be comfortable. With those two factors, I don’t believe there needs to be serious changes in X’s and O’s.