Nevertheless, Iowa State is a really interesting team. Almost an anomaly. The Cyclones lead the Big 12 Conference in possessions per game, points per possession, points per game, field goals attempted and made and 3-pointers attempted in made.

Play that pace and you’re going to have faults. Sure enough, Iowa State is ninth in the 10-team conference in scoring defense and No. 7 in field-goal percentage defense.

And that’s pretty much where it stops making sense.

Teams that play fast are often accused of gimmicking up to cover up. That’s how a lot of deviations are treated. A team plays slow because it can’t score or plays zone because it can’t guard. Teams that push tempo are often thought to be bad shooters or bad rebounders, or both, and the pace will overwhelm errors.

Well, Iowa State is third in the league in field-goal percentage and second in 3-point percentage and and not far from the top of either. The Cyclones are making good on their barrage … and the backlash.

Shoot a lot, miss a lot, right? No one rebounds better in the Big 12 than Iowa State, which is tops in rebounds and rebounding margin.

And this isn’t a big team. Melvin Ejim leads the conference with 9.3 rebounds per game. He’s a 6-foot-6 forward.

It’s not really supposed to go like this. Things always settle in conference play. The competition is better and it’s more familiar with what you do, but teams are more familiar with how to pinpoint opponents, too. Both tend to slow down teams — a defense can be precise and slow an offense with its tactics, an offense can be exact with attacks at the expense of pace.

Yet Iowa State rung up 89 points and was 14-for-38 from 3-point range against Kansas at Kansas and then had 82 points and shot 44 percent from the floor and 42.3 percent (11-for-26) from 3-point range against Texas, which was leading the NCAA in field-goal and 3-point defense.

The Cyclones will keep pushing and shooting because they keep rebounding. They’re 9-1 when they make at least 45 baskets + rebounds (the loss is to Kansas) and 2-3 when they’re under 45. They’re  7-1 when they make 10 or more 3s.

It’s not an ideal matchup for WVU. Maybe rebounding is a push, though the Cyclones do it better, and more consistently, but the defense is a red flag. The Mountaineers haven’t been very good keeping the ball out of the paint and they’re No. 8 in the Big 12 in scoring defense, scoring margin, and 3-point percentage defense and No. 9 in field-goal percentage defense.

And yet they’ll challenge Iowa State, the coach says, because WVU offers something different.

“No doubt about it, this will be the most physical team we’ve played all year,” Hoiberg said. “They lost a heart-breaker against Kansas State this weekend, so as a team I know they’re going to be prepared. I have so much respect for Bob Huggins and the way his guys play for him.