Kansas vs Iowa State

[Muckslinger]

Ames, Ia. — It took Craig Brackins just a few seconds to proclaim himself ready for another leap into the world of facing a basketball elite.

Top-ranked Texas last week, and now third-ranked Kansas at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hilton Coliseum.

“How can you not be ready to play against a team like Kansas?” Brackins asked. “They’re one of the best programs of all time. They’re coming to our place. It’s going to be a great game.”




He said that after the Cyclones’ 78-71 loss at Texas Tech Wednesday, and a day after learning starting forward Lucca Staiger suddenly opted to play professionally in Germany.

“What’s happened is in the past,” Brackins continued. “We can’t get it back, so there’s no reason worrying about it.”

That’s only partially true. He wants to forget about the Cyclones’ 1-2 Big 12 Conference start, but he wouldn’t mind reliving part of what happened almost a year ago to the day.

That’s when Brackins scored a career-best 42 points, but in an 82-67 loss against the Jayhawks.

“We lost the game, so what happened to me personally doesn’t matter,” Brackins said.

He followed the breakout performance by averaging 21.4 points and 10.0 rebounds during the remaining 13 games.

“No one could stop him on that day,” Kansas coach Bill Self said, looking back to that Jan. 24 game in Ames.

Brackins promises the same aggressiveness during the next 12 games of the regular season, and then whatever happens after that.

“My mindset the rest of the way is to attack,” Brackins said. “That’s what I did in the second half (against Texas Tech), and it’s the way I have to play from here on out.”

Click here to see Iowa State's individual statistics

Click here to see Kansas' individual statistics

Brackins scored nine of his 14 points while helping Iowa State to a 40-37 second-half advantage against the Red Raiders. He did that after scoring just five points during the first half.

“I told the team after the game that I didn’t bring it for all the 40 minutes,” Brackins said. “I just wasn’t aggressive. I told the team it’s the last time that was going to happen.”

There’s more to watch Saturday than how Kansas defends Brackins.

Also on the floor are two of the top newcomers in the league, Iowa State’s Marquis Gilstrap and Xavier Henry, Kansas’ No. 2 scorer with a 14.9 average.

Gilstrap, a 6-foot-7 forward, has three conference double-doubles in a row while averaging 18.0 points and 12.0 rebounds against league competition. He will return to his home in Covington, Ga., Monday to attend Tuesday’s funeral of his uncle.

There’s also the battle of guards — Kansas’ Sherron Collins and Iowa State’s Diante Garrett.

“Sherron is a competitive dude,” Self told reporters after Wednesday’s 81-75 win against Baylor. “He’s the best guard in the country, in our opinion.”

Collins backed up his coach by scoring 21 of his 28 points in the second half.

“They’re just such an all-around team,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “They can hurt you from every place on the floor, not just at guard.”

Brackins hopes to inflict scoring pain, too.

“I’m going to be more aggressive,” he vowed. “My mindset from here on out is to attack.”



Big 12 Conference standings

Iowa State's scores and schedule


Player, team PPG
1. James Anderson, OSU 21.8
2. LaceDarius Dunn, Bay. 19.5
9. Sherron Collins, KU 16.3
10. Craig Brackins, ISU 16.2
11. Tweety Carter, Bay. 15.7
12. Kim English, Mizzou 15.3
13. Marquis Gilstrap, ISU 14.9
13. Mike Singletary, TT 14.9
13. Xavier Henry, KU 14.9