Alabama and Iowa State meet in battle of unbeatens

Kansas City, MO (SportsNetwork.com) – The Iowa State Cyclones will receive a challenge from the Alabama Crimson Tide when the two teams clash at the Sprint Center as part of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic.

In three opportunities, Alabama has yet to lose this season, although the degree of difficulty has not been that great. The Tide have topped Towson (82-54), Western Carolina (80-74) and Southern Miss (81-67), all at home.

Iowa State has yet to fall short in a contest as well, although it has only two games under its belt. The Cyclones got past Oakland (93-82) and Georgia State (81-58) in their first two outings.

In the only previous meeting between these two programs, Alabama earned an 83-68 win during the 2007-08 season.

The winner will take on the winner of the Arizona State/Maryland game, and the losers of each contest will square off as well.

Paced by 23 points from Levi Randolph, Alabama navigated its way to victory rather easily against Southern Miss. The Crimson Tide knocked down 57.1 percent of their shots from the floor, including a 9-of-19 effort from 3-point range. Although they let up eight triples to the Golden Eagles, they held them to only 41.5 percent shooting overall. A 36-22 advantage on the boards only added to the dominating win.

Randolph has done a bit of everything for Alabama in the first three games. Not only does he lead the team in scoring (19 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg), but he also has handed out a team-high nine assists. Jimmie Taylor (8.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.7 bpg) hasn’t been asked to score much, but he has finished on 61.1 percent of his field goal attempts and is blocking shots at an impressive rate. Ricky Tarrant (13.7 ppg) is a solid scorer off the bench, and Shannon Hale (12 ppg, 6 rpg) is a consistent performer in the starting lineup.

Georgia State may be the class of the Sun Belt Conference, but Iowa State didn’t seem to notice or care last time out. The Cyclones forced 15 turnovers and held the Panthers to just 39.1 percent shooting. On the other side, they made 48.3 percent from the floor, including eight 3-pointers, while holding a 15-3 edge in scoring from the free-throw line. All five starters reached double figures, led Monte Morris with 19 points.

With very little resistance coming from their first three opponents, the Cyclones have been tearing it up offensively, scoring 87 points per game on an even 50 percent shooting. Of course, they do not get much of anything from their bench, with the team’s reserves combing for only 4.5 points per game. With a loaded starting five, that hasn’t been an issue. Georges Niang (20 ppg, 10 rpg) is averaging a double-double in the early going, while Bryce Dejean- Jones (17.5 ppg, 9 rpg, 5.5 apg) has flirted with a triple-double. Morris (16.5 ppg, 6 apg) shares the ball almost as well as he scores, as he is netting 64.7 percent of his field goal tries. Dustin Hogue (15 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Naz Long (13.4 ppg) round out a formidable group.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball