As losses mount for Iowa State basketball team, player discontent has been growing
The Kansas City business community is probably rooting for the Iowa State men’s basketball team to get out of its late-season funk.
The Big 12 Tournament begins next week at the Sprint Center, and Cyclones fans are known to travel in big numbers to Kansas City for the annual event. It could be a short stay.
Since routing Kansas State in Manhattan last month, the Cyclones have lost four of five. Their record has dropped to 20-10 overall and 9-8 in Big 12 play.
Iowa State was pounded by last place West Virginia on Wednesday night. However, the Cyclones played without leading scoring Marial Shayok in the 90-75 loss in Morgantown.
The reason for Shayok’s absence? His left foot was injured during a dispute among players in the locker room, as the Des Moines Register reported.
Here is what Iowa State coach Steve Prohm told the Ames Tribune:
“It started all with a hard foul in transition, and I was like, we haven’t found anybody hard like that. Probably not the right play this time of year, but it was like, no layup rule. Heck of a play. That kind of spilled over. Guys got screened a couple times and things spilled over a little bit.
“I wasn’t there for the whole deal. I caught the tail end of it. I just know the part with Marial was a fluke deal ... guys got physical in practice. That’s it. We needed it. Sometimes it carries over a little bit too far. Learn from it. Move on. There’s no big story to tell. There really isn’t. I know there’s a lot of stuff out there.”
Among the “stuff” out there: A rumor on Twitter that Shayok kicked a door in anger.
“He got tangled up,” Prohm told the Tribune. “That’s it. It was kind of a fluke deal. They were by the door, and the door got open and it got caught. That’s it. No more. And I don’t have an exact detail on it, but nobody kicked a door. Nobody kicked anybody. That’s not what happened.”
What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. But the discontent was on display during Wednesday’s game. Iowa State’s Mike Jacobson had words with Talen Horton-Tucker as the team got into a huddle. At one point, Jacobson shoved Horton-Tucker:
If you’re a Cyclones fan, March is a bad time to see your team’s players not getting along.
Kansas State fans would like to see Iowa State turn a corner, too. The Cyclones end the season by playing host to Texas Tech. If Iowa State and K-State win, the Wildcats will be sole winners of the Big 12.
This story was originally published March 7, 2019 at 12:30 PM.
