Marquis Gilstrap has never played in an Iowa State vs. Iowa basketball game. He’ll experience the rivalry first hand on Friday night when the Hawkeyes will invade Hilton Colisiem. CycloneFanatic.com caught up with Gilstrap on Monday afternoon to talk about the state of his team. Here’s the complete Q&A.
How is the team feeling about itself right now?
MG: We are just trying to move on and will try to get a win on Friday. We need to stick together as a team.
What has been lacking in your eyes?
MG: I think our intensity. We’re just not playing hard enough I guess. We’re not rebounding well enough right now.
Do you know much about Iowa?
MG: I have seen them on TV a lot. I saw that they were losing to Texas at halftime by one. I saw them play and they shot the 3 very well.
I know that you aren’t from here but have the guys told you how big of a deal Iowa State vs. Iowa is?
MG: Yeah. I hear it is one of the biggest games on our schedule. It’s an in-state rivalry. I can only imagine how big of a game it is.
How do you guys go about getting better at rebounding?
MG: We’ve just got to work on it in practice. Everything that we have to improve on has to start today in practice. I am just going to work on my rebounding, offensive and defensive today in practice.
How much of rebounding is about effort?
MG: Probably, I’d say at least 85 or 90 percent of it. You’ve just got to have the heart to do it I guess.
Gilstrap is averaging 13.6 points per game with 8.4 rebounds per game so far this season for the Cyclones.
