Northwest Whitfield graduate Prohm ‘wonderful’ for Iowa State
AMES, Iowa — There have been plenty of good days for Steve Prohm through two-plus seasons heading the Iowa State basketball program, but Saturday against visiting No. 22 Tennessee was not one he will remember with a smile.
His Cyclones, a week after extending their home winning streak against ranked teams to five games in a 70-52 beatdown of No. 8 Texas Tech, trailed the final 27 minutes, 52 seconds in an 68-45 loss to the visiting Volunteers before a sold-out crowd of 14,384 inside fabled Hilton Coliseum.
But the former Northwest Whitfield High School standout and 1992 graduate has found his program, after two straight years with at least one victory in the NCAA tournament, almost in a complete rebuild.
“Make good decisions, do whatever you need to do tomorrow because we’re off, and then you better be ready to compete like crazy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, because if not, West Virginia can come in here and really pummel you,” said Prohm, whose team was held to the lowest point total in a home game in more than four decades.
The Cyclones returned just one starter and have leaned on freshman Lindell Wigginton, their top signee from their most recent class and the No. 1 player in Canada when he entered college.
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes praised Prohm postgame to the Times Free Press as Barnes noted the unique, tightly knit nature of the coaching community.
“Class guy. Really a wonderful person. People would be surprised how intertwined we all are in this business,” Barnes said. “People have always done nothing but speak so highly of him. And watch the job he’s done everywhere he’s been.
“He’s in a situation here kind of like we were a couple years ago, and he’s had a great run here — and not that this team can’t do it. But he’s getting it going again, and he will. They do some really good stuff, they really do. And it’s not easy to defend. They’ve got a good one here, and I know they realize that.”
Road victors again
Tennessee notched its seventh win this season away from Knoxville, which matched the program’s most since 2014-15. The Vols are guaranteed at least six more games outside of Thompson-Boling Arena and showcased their maturity Saturday.
The Vols struggled early from the floor, hitting just three of their first 18 shots, and then never blinked when the Cyclones reeled off a mini 7-0 run in the second half. Plus, the Vols overcame what could have been disastrous foul problems when they put the Cyclones into the bonus for more than the final 10 minutes of the Big 12/SEC Challenge contest.
“Tonight was definitely a really good thing because we had a 20-point lead, or something close to that going into half,” said junior post Kyle Alexander. “Coming out they made runs and the crowd got into it a little bit, but we still fought back and made sure we maintained it. Definitely good.”
Half the battle
Tennessee’s first-half defense was suffocating as it limited the hosts to 19 points — the second straight game and fourth time this season the Vols denied their opponent 20 firsthalf points. They held Vanderbilt to 15 in their win Tuesday at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Eleven times this season Tennessee has held the opposition to 30 or fewer first-half points.