Emmitt Matthews Fueled by Iowa State's 'Dirty Play'

As I documented earlier in the week, Emmitt Matthews Jr. has been in a slump offensively.

In the 10 non-conference games before Big 12 play began, Matthews averaged 10.8 points while shooting 37/78 (47%) from the field and 15/31 (48%) from three-point range. In the first 10 conference matchups plus the Auburn game, those numbers have dropped significantly as he has shot 30/75 (40%) from the floor and 5/28 (17%) from deep, averaging 7.5 points.

The senior is well aware that he hasn't shot it well but he knows his place on the team, which is something that Bob Huggins preaches to his guys about all of the time.

"I came back here to win games. I didn't come back here to average 20 points. I didn't come back here to score a bunch of buckets. I came back here to try to do something special with this team. Obviously we've been off to a slow start in the Big 12 and right now we're trying to correct it all. My main assignment usually and for Keddy is guard the best player. If the best player is a point guard, Keddy is going to guard him. If it's a 2-4, I'm usually going to guard him. I know that's my role. I know that was my role coming here. I know that was my role the first time I was here. So I'm just sticking with that and letting the game come to me."

On Wednesday night, that slump came to an end as Matthews connected on 7/10 shots from the floor, posting a season-high 20 points in the win over No. 11 Iowa State.

His performance on the offensive end was much-needed, especially once Erik Stevenson had to be helped off and into the locker room after taking a hard hit on his way to the ground.

It was something Matthews didn't take lightly.

"Seeing a guy like Erik go down, especially just with me and his history...I didn't like the play that happened. I think he got kicked in the head. I saw it. I felt like there should have been something looked at there and whatnot. The whistle is blown, he's on the ground, gets kicked in the head. I find that dirty. And that's a little bit of motivation for me."

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