BFS Story Archive

Beavers Men's Basketball Loses to Iowa State in Overtime

12/1/2007

I attended my first home basketball game of the season on Friday night to watch the Beavers take on BIG12 member Iowa State. The game was exciting and went into overtime when the Beavers made two free throws in the final seconds to send it into overtime. But the Beavers were no match for the Cyclones and ended up losing 71-64

To say that I was disappointed in the loss is one thing but I was disappointed in the play and the crowd at the game. If you were at the game you may have heard me in the second half of the game trying, mostly be myself, to out yell the 100 or so ISU fans who were sitting all around me in the corner of Gill. I have to admit the fans from ISU are great fans and I was very impressed with their energy and the cheers they came up with. It seemed that for every free throw that the Beavers attempted the ISU fans had a different cheer for. I think they were making them up on the spot but the more we got to the line the more creative they got. It was rather funny after a while. They would chant something like, "Your arms are getting heavy" and we would miss a free throw. The next time we got to the line they would break out "The ball is getting lighter" and we miss again.

The ISU fans were really into the game. I wish I could say as much for the OSU fans, or lack of fans, who attended the game. The student section was just about empty. The courtside seats opposite the students were half full. The student section had no energy at all. A couple of times during the game they seemed to get into it and near the end of the game when the Beavers rallied to tie the score late the fans started getting into it but overall, it was pretty bad.

The ISU fans who were sittting around me asked "Is it always like this?", refering to the lack of a crowd and the lack of support and noise from the fans in attendance. "Next year you should come to Ames and see what real basketball fans are like" they said. "We sell out every game. 14,000+ and it is so loud you can hardly hear the person next to you. Win or lose we pack the place out every year."

I remember when I was in school at Oregon State, that is how it was back then. Every game was a sellout and it was so loud. But now you can come to a game at Gill and just about sit anywhere you want to. Just after the game started all the fans from Iowa State who were sitting in the nose bleed seats came down and filled in all those seats that the season ticket holder have that did not care to come and watch. Frankly, I was pretty imbarrassed for our school and our basketball program.

BY THE NUMBERS

 

Key	STATISTIC	OSU	IOWA ST	ADV.
.	Scoring Offense	64	71	ISU
X	Free Throw %	.500	.550	ISU
X	Field Goal %	.282	.444	ISU
.	3-Point Field Goal %	.308	.250	OSU
.	Rebounding Offense - RPG	22	12	OSU
.	Rebounding Defense	28	38	ISU
X	Blocked Shots	2	4	ISU
.	Assists	9	17	ISU
X	Steals	6	2	OSU
.	TurnoverS	6	13	OSU
X	Assist/Turnover Ratio	1.5	1.31	OSU
X	3-Point Field Goals Made	8	4	OSU

 

Iowa State is not a very good team and the Beavers should have been able to beat them. But once again it was the 2 simple things that have plaqued Jay John teams for years. Lack of intensity on the court and poor shooting that killed the Beavers chances on national TV to get a win over a BIG-12 conference school. Marcel Jones led the team with 17 points but missed countless shots under the basket that would have made a difference at the end of the game. If this team does not get their act together and soon, they may not win a game when the PAC-10 schedule rolls around.

GO BEAVERS!

BFS