Finding production from anywhere
Gabe Kalscheur was the star of the show in Iowa State’s win over Wisconsin. Kalscheur went 10-19 from the floor and recorded a game-high 22 points. The game before that, the win over LSU, it was Tyrese Hunter who stepped up big. In that one, Hunter’s 23 points recorded for nearly half of Iowa State’s offensive production.
This is the way it has been all season for the Cyclones. It doesn’t matter to this team, or to TJ Otzelberger, who’s the guy that night. It could be Gabe, Tyrese, Izaiah, or any number of guys who come up big for Iowa State.
Izaiah Brockington is the Cyclones leading scorer at 17.1 ppg and he tacks on nearly 1.5 steals per game as well. But, it is perhaps his unselfishness that shines through most throughout the year. Brockington, a senior, is not at all concerned with whether he is ‘the guy’ that night. Coach Otzelberger raves about how Brockington “understands what we’re trying to do” and “is a true leader”.
While Brockington has his draft prospects to keep in mind, the 6’4 guard out of Philadelphia isn’t too concerned with his own stats. He has got the younger guys to truly buy into Iowa State’s defensive-minded approach that has led them to one of the more remarkable turnarounds in all of college hoops history. They have won as many NCAA Tournament games as total games they did the year before. That is genuinely remarkable, and Brockington is a major part of that turnaround.