Big 12 Basketball: 2018-19 storylines for West Virginia at Iowa State

LUBBOCK, TX - JANUARY 16: Iowa State Cyclones celebrate their play on the court during the second half of the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on January 16, 2019 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. Iowa State defeated Texas Tech 68-64. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

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AMES, IA – FEBRUARY 21: Zoran Talley Jr. #23 of the Iowa State Cyclones pulls in a rebound over Kouat Noi #12 of the TCU Horned Frogs in the second half of play at Hilton Coliseum on February 21, 2018 in Ames, Iowa. TCU Horned Frogs won 89-83 over the Iowa State Cyclones. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /

1. Will Iowa State be able to compete on the boards?

The first thing to keep an eye on in this game will be Iowa State’s ability to battle on the boards with West Virginia. Despite having a down year, West Virginia, as always seems to be the case, the Mountaineers are one of the better rebounding teams in the country. The Mountaineers pull down just over 40 rebounds per game, which puts them in the top 25 nationally and 14.3 offensive rebounds per game is the 7th highest number in the game.

A big key for Iowa State will be how well the Cyclones can compete with their opponents on the glass. They aren’t a bad rebounding team, but their numbers show them as an average one, the question is whether that will be good enough against West Virginia. In conference play, the Cyclones are 8th in rebounding at just 31.9 per game, in fact, their 24 defensive rebounds per game rank higher in conference play than West Virginia who grabs just 22 per game.

On the offensive end, West Virginia is 2nd in the conference at over 14 rebounds per game, while Iowa State leads only Texas Tech in that category at 7.7 per contest. The Cyclones will have to gang rebound in this one and have a rebound margin better than their 1.5 season average in order to compete with West Virginia on the glass.

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