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Texas basketball vs. Iowa State: Prediction, scouting report for Big 12 title game rematch

danny davis, austin american-statesman
·3 min read
Iowa State's Nyamer Diew, left, battles Texas' Amina Muhammad for a rebound in Ames, Iowa, last February. Diew will be one of the few familiar faces when the two teams meet for the first time this season Saturday at Moody Center.
Iowa State's Nyamer Diew, left, battles Texas' Amina Muhammad for a rebound in Ames, Iowa, last February. Diew will be one of the few familiar faces when the two teams meet for the first time this season Saturday at Moody Center.

On Saturday afternoon, No. 5 Texas and Iowa State will meet for the first time this season (3 p.m., ESPN2, 103.1). Texas (23-3, 10-3) needs a win to stay in the Big 12 championship race, which No. 23 Oklahoma (18-6, 12-1) currently controls. Listed by the bracketology projections published on Thursday by ESPN as the first team left out of the NCAA Tournament, Iowa State (14-9, 8-5) needs a win to strengthen its postseason résumé.

Here's what you need to know about the matchup:

Head of the class (of 2023)

Saturday's showdown will feature the two front-runners for the Big 12 freshman of the year award. Madison Booker is a forward-turned-point guard for the Longhorns. Audi Crooks is Iowa State's center. Both are three-time winners of the Big 12 freshman of the week honor and each has been recognized once as Big 12 player of the week.

Booker's play this season has earned her national recognition. She is one of two Big 12 representatives on the 30-player Naismith Trophy midseason team, and she made the 20-name cut for the Wooden Award late-season watch list. Booker leads Texas with 15.8 points per game, and she is averaging 4.6 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Not to be overshadowed, the 6-foot-3 Crooks is averaging 17.8 points and 7.6 rebounds. Her 57.1% shooting is third-best in the conference. Crooks matched the 20 points scored by Kansas State star center Ayoka Lee in Iowa State's double-overtime win over the Wildcats on Wednesday.

Booker and Crooks were rated by ESPN HoopGurlz as the Nos. 12 and 57 prospects in the 2023 recruiting cycle.

Texas looking like a No. 2 seed to the NCAA

On Thursday, the NCAA selection committee released its first projections for the NCAA Tournament. If the tournament started today, Texas would be the No. 8 overall seed. The committee listed Texas as the second seed in a Stanford-topped region.

Kansas State was the only other Big 12 team listed among the top-16 seeds. The Wildcats were 13th.

Nice to meet you

None of the three Cyclones who have made the most starts this season — freshman forward Addy Brown (23 starts), Truman State transfer guard Hannah Belanger (22) and Crooks (19) — was with the team last year when Iowa State beat Texas in the Big 12 championship game. In fact, seven of the eight Cyclones who have appeared in at least 22 games are newcomers. That list includes Kelsey Joens, the younger sister of former Iowa State star Ashley, and Texas native Jalynn Bristow.

There are some familiar faces on the Iowa State roster, though. Point guard Emily Ryan was voted onto the Big 12's preseason team in October. Forward Nyamer Diew is in her third season as a contributor for this Iowa State program.

Texas vs. Iowa State prediction

Texas. Iowa State is coming off an upset of Kansas State, and the Cyclones could send a message to the NCAA selection committee by taking out another of the Big 12's better teams. Texas won't let that happen on the Moody Center court, where it is 12-2 this season.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas, Iowa State basketball game could affect NCAA Tournament seeding