Kellis Robinett’s weekly Big 12 report: Iowa State off to shaky start

Iowa State isn’t out of the Big 12 championship race, but the Cyclones will struggle to keep pace with Kansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia and any other true contender if they continue to play the way they have the past two weeks.

Three games into the conference season, and already Iowa State has fallen down the standings at 1-2. The first loss, an 87-83 setback at No. 2 Oklahoma, was understandable. But a narrow home victory against Texas Tech, followed by a 94-89 home loss to Baylor has Cyclones fans on tilt.

With a senior-laden roster returning, led by Georges Niang, some thought this was the year to make a title push. But an early home loss could greatly hinder those aspirations. Iowa State players and coaches can sense the panic.

“This isn’t the end of the world,” Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. “We’re three games into conference play. You’re not even thinking about the conference championship race until the last two weeks of the season. There’s a lot of teams that have to play a lot of people. We’ve just got to go a day at a time, a game at a time and just focus on winning the next game. If you do that, you’ll start piling wins up.”

That may be easier said than done.

Though No. 17 Iowa State will be favored in its next game at Texas, the Longhorns are tough at home. A trip to Kansas State later this week could be even more difficult. After that, the Cyclones host Oklahoma, face TCU on the road, host No. 1 Kansas, play at No. 15 Texas A&M and then host No. 11 West Virginia.

That may be the nation’s most difficult upcoming schedule.

Iowa State will need to improve its defense to go on a winning streak. Scoring has rarely been a problem for the potent Cyclones but winning shootouts isn’t easy against talented competition.

Niang understands what’s at stake, but warns skeptics to doubt Iowa State at their own risk.

“It doesn’t bother, me because I hate everything about losing,” Niang told the Ames Tribune. “I hate the pity of, ‘You guys are going to get them next time.’ I don’t like that. I think I really hate losing more than I love winning. It doesn’t bother me, because you just realize I have to work that much harder to prove these people wrong.”

Hield honored

In the least-surprising news of the week, Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield was named Big 12 player of the week on Monday.

Hield earned the honor after scoring 46 points in a loss at Kansas and 31 points in a win against K-State. The most impressive part of Hield’s big week was his efficiency. He scored a combined 77 points on 37 shots, meaning he averaged 2.08 points per attempt.

K-State freshman guard Barry Brown was named Big 12 newcomer of the week. He led the Wildcats in scoring against Texas and Oklahoma.

Power rankings

1. Kansas (14-1, 3-0): Conference favorites until someone beats them in Lawrence.

2. Oklahoma (14-1, 3-0): Hield is the front runner to win national Player of the Year.

3. West Virginia (14-1, 3-0): Bob Huggins’ teams know how to close out games.

4. Baylor (12-3, 2-1): Bears landed a huge win at Iowa State last week.

5. Iowa State (12-3, 1-2): Cyclones will have to make up for home loss on the road.

6. Texas Tech (11-3, 1-2): Best team of the Tubby Smith era.

7. Kansas State (10-5, 0-3): Four of five losses have come against ranked teams.

8. Texas (9-6, 1-2): Longhorns miss Cameron Ridley.

9. Oklahoma State (9-6, 1-2): Barely competitive in losses to Baylor and West Virginia.

10. TCU (9-6, 1-2): Nice home win against Texas with two road games up next.

This story was originally published January 11, 2016 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Kellis Robinett’s weekly Big 12 report: Iowa State off to shaky start."