Saturday January 17 figures to be one of the best college basketball days of the season with five top-25 matchups including N0. 4 Duke and No. 6 Louisville at 12:00pm ET, No. 16 West Virginia and No. 20 Texas at 6:15pm ET, and No. 8 Utah and No. 10 Arizona at 7:00pm ET. The cherry on top, though, is the night cap which features N0. 9 Kansas traveling to Ames, Iowa to face off with No. 11 Iowa State. ESPN’s College GameDay will be at Hilton Coliseum for the 9:00pm ET tip. Hilton has been home to a series of intense clashes in the past few seasons including Elijah Johnson’s controversial charge call and game ending dunk as well as Joel Embiid’s breakout performance last year.

Iowa State will look for some Hilton Magic when it faces Kansas on Saturday (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Bill Self said Saturday’s matchup is “a game that deserves national attention” during his Thursday press conference, and GameDay ensures that the contest will receive its fair share despite the impressive slate of games scheduled. Fred Hoiberg agreed, calling it an opportunity to “showcase” the magic of Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones will try to do just that as they host at least one recruit on Saturday. Travis Hines of the Ames Tribune reported via Twitter that 2016 recruit Amir Coffey will be in the building for an unofficial visit. Coffey, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard, is ranked 44th in the 2016 class, according to Rivals. The high school junior has chosen a good time to visit Ames, with Saturday’s contest having huge implications for the Big 12 title race.

Before the games played this week, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa State shared nearly identical odds to win at least a share of the Big 12 title. Since then, Oklahoma got blown out at West Virginia and Iowa State fell to Baylor on Kenny Chery’s late jumper. Kansas now sits alone atop the Big 12 standings as the only remaining undefeated team in league play. Unfortunately, that doesn’t bring much clarity to the Big 12 title chase. Ken Pomeroy’s projections now predict three teams–Kansas, Iowa State, and West Virginia–to finish with identical 12-6 records in conference play.

With the Cyclones projected to win Saturday, a victory for Kansas would go a long ways in setting them apart from the top of the Big 12 while a loss for Iowa State would force them to play catchup. In this league, you must defend your home court and road wins, especially against the conference’s best, don’t come easy. Iowa State grabbed an early one against West Virginia, so a home win against the Jayhawks would keep them squarely in the Big 12 title race especially since Kansas still has to travel to Morgantown. Both teams have plenty to gain on Saturday, so what should fans expect?

Kansas and Iowa State have met six times over the past two seasons. In each game, both teams have scored 70 points or more, so expect some offensive fireworks when two of the nation’s top 25 offenses meet in Ames. Saturday will also showcase two of the Big 12’s best point guards in Iowa State’s Monte Morris and the Jayhawks’ Frank Mason III. Morris leads the country in assist to turnover ratio while averaging 5.6 assists per game. He is also the Cyclones’ lone true point guard. Mason, meanwhile, has scored in double digits for 13 straight games and has been Kansas’s most consistent player this season. Saturday is also an opportunity for two preseason Big 12 Play of the Year candidates to return to form. Both Georges Niang and Perry Ellis have struggled a bit during conference play so far, but each player is capable of having a massive impact in this one.

Iowa State versus Kansas is developing into one of the best basketball rivalries in the Big 12. Credit goes to Fred Hoiberg for continuing to put together top squads in Ames by masterfully integrating transfers while Bill Self works to sustain Kansas’s tradition of winning. Saturday is yet another chapter in the book of this rivalry. With ESPN’s GameDay in town, Big 12 title implications, and plenty of talent the floor, it’s shaping up to be a great battle.

Chris Stone (136 Posts)

Chris Stone is a contributor to the Big 12 microsite. You can find him on Twitter @cstonehoops.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 16th, 2015 at 2:15 pm by Chris Stone and is filed under big 12, microsites. Tagged: bill self, frank mason, fred hoiberg, georges niang, iowa state, kansas, monte morris, perry ellis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.