Arizona vs. Iowa State: Key storylines to watch in the Maui Invitational matchup

Role players

It’s already been documented how well Iowa State’s role players have performed – especially the veteran transfers. But the freshmen guards in Haliburton and Talen Horton-Tucker have averaged double-digits in scoring with Wigginton sidelined. It bodes well for the Cyclones future depth with all the players that are stepping up.

In the Maui Invitational, a couple of other players may have to make bigger contributions. George Conditt IV is a 6’10 freshman big who plays around 10 mpg. He’s the biggest body in the rotation and the Cyclones will be facing bigger teams than before. They can/will use small-ball lineups but will need Conditt as an extra body in certain cases.

For Arizona, all eyes coming into the season were on a trio of sophomores, who each had poor freshmen campaigns compared to their high rankings. So far, Brandon Randolph has been great, leading the team with 18.3 ppg on 56% shooting. Forward Ira Lee‘s 7.5 rpg leads the Wildcats as well and is a better defender than he was a year ago. Emmanuel Akot hasn’t produced to the same level as the other two but still is getting around 20 mpg.

With three games against good competition, this is a crucial week for these Wildcats to solidify themselves in Miller’s future rotations. There may not be bonafide stars to warrant 35+ minutes like there were last year but there’s only so many chances that’ll be given before 6’5 freshman Devonaire Doutrive gets a look. And with a projected top-10 recruiting class coming in for Arizona’s some of these players are playing for their spot on next season’s team as well.