Iowa State was one of the best offensive teams in college basketball this season. They scored an average of 78.4 points per game, and yet, they were held to a mere 59 points against #14 seed UAB. The Cyclones shot horrendously from the field, hitting on only 36.9 percent of their shots (24 for 65, 6-23 on 3 point FGs), and recording four less assists than the 16 they normally average. The UAB defense made Iowa State's offense look childlike as well. The team who was top-20 in field goal percentage and points and assists per game faced a worthy opponent. The key to this upset: the Blazers' defense was the perfect antidote to Iowa State's poisonous offense.
Take a look at this video:
This is the offensive system Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg implements for his team. It is meant to create inside mismatches or open space on the wings for shooters and other playmakers. Because of how many options this attacking set has, the Cyclones usually score lots of buckets. However, UAB's defense was built for the task of guarding against this simple yet multi-faceted offense.
UAB looked to be playing a man-to-man defense to start the game, but after going down big early, they switched to a 2-3 zone. But was it a traditional 2-3 zone? Well, in the video above, it is shown how the normal Iowa State offense is run. This offense can be classified as either a 1-2-2 offense or a 1-3-1 offense. What defensive strategy is used to counter a 1-2-2 or 1-3-1? A 2-3 matchup zone.
What is a matchup zone, you may ask? It is the epitome of the saying "The best man defense looks like a zone and the best zone defense looks like a man." This defense appears to be a zone to offenses, and somewhat functions like one, but each defensive player has an assigned player that he is responsible for. Also, a matchup zone D limits cutters and screens by switching automatically and jamming opponents who are cutting to the hoop. The main goal is to deceive the offense into playing from the wrong offensive set and therefore creating a defensive advantage.
Iowa State created an early lead thanks to the penetration of Georges Niang and Jameel McKay. However, UAB's defensive versatility enabled them to shut down most of the Cyclones' penetration. During the regular season, the Blazers recorded the 19th most blocks in the nation by contesting nearly every shot their opponents took. Due to UAB's great job of contesting shots and pressuring the ball, Iowa State turned the ball over 9 times in the first half and shot horribly from the field. Even though Iowa State recorded more total blocks and steals, the hustle and pressure by the UAB defense affected many of Iowa State's shots.
This woeful output came from a Cyclones team ranked 9th in assist-turnover ratio and ranked 23rd in field goal percentage during the regular season. Against UAB, Iowa State recorded 11 turnovers and shot only 24-65 from the field. The Cyclones shot the 41st most three point field goal attempts during the regular season, but these shots weren't always contested. UAB limited the Cyclones to 6-23 on shots beyond the arc. Want more proof? In three of the four other games in which Iowa State lost to unranked teams, the Cyclones were limited to a sub-23 percent three-point field goal clip. Moreover, in those three games, they were limited to at most six made threes. It is no coincidence that they shot badly from the arc against UAB.
The Blazers' defensive scheme and roster was made to defend an offensively formidable team like Iowa State. In a sense, Iowa State may have been facing their toughest matchup all season. Not only on D did the Blazers have the edge against Iowa State. In fact, the teams made the same number of field goals, and UAB shot four more times from the field. The Cyclones even hit 3 more threes than the poor-shooting Blazers. Yet somehow, UAB managed to outscore one of the nation's top teams.
Offensively, UAB is a very bad shooting team. They shot 24-69 from the field, a worse clip than they held Iowa State to. Their edge on offense came from second-chance points. UAB decisively won the rebounding battle, grabbing 52 boards in the victory. 19 of those boards were offensive, and they led to high-percentage shots, more attempts from the charity stripe, and control of the game's pace. Iowa State only had 9 offensive boards of their own, which led to their fewer shot attempts. Iowa State was ranked 92nd in rebounds per game, not so great considering UAB was 59th.
Neither of these teams possesses a towering big man who can rebound over people. Iowa State's only starter 6'9" or above is Jameel McKay. This allowed UAB to attack the offensive glass with ease, especially since Iowa State aims to start the transition game as quickly as possible. The two tallest starters of the Blazers themselves are also "only" 6'9", but they were more aggressive on the glass. Reserve guard Tyler Madison of UAB had 9 boards on the offensive end in only 14 minutes of play. Don't say you couldn't have seen that one coming. Just watch what coach Hoiberg says about getting into transition. No wonder there were so many numbers mismatches in the paint.
Lastly, if you are not convinced, here is a breakdown of this key three by Robert Brown that allowed UAB to pull ahead of the Cyclones
This was more as a result of brilliant playcalling by UAB coach Jerod Haase. Many people blame Iowa State's lackadaisical defense for their first-round exit. Their simple man-to-man defense is not hard to break through with plays, hence their ranking of 248th in Division I in points allowed per game. The Blazers like to score inside, and so on this play they packed the paint. They knew that using screens and cuts could lead to an open shot during clutch time. Also, because Iowa State doesn't play a zone, they could get a wide open look on one side of the floor. Here is what they did: