AMES, Iowa — It was fitting on this day that Iowa State chose to honor its 1986 Sweet 16 team, one of the program’s legendary teams. Right now, the No. 3 Iowa State Cyclones have a team poised to exceed what that team accomplished.
It’s one thing to watch on TV and it’s another to be in the arena. Seeing the Cyclones in person on Saturday, which was an 83-71 win over Oklahoma State, offered a window into just how complete this team is and why it’s a legitimate national championship contender.
Iowa State Leads the Big 12 Pack?
Yes, there are five terrific teams in the Big 12. All five — Arizona, BYU, Houston, Iowa State and Texas Tech — are among the Top 16 seeds in ESPN’s NCAA Bracketology. But these Cyclones have multitudes of ways to beat teams. When head coach T.J. Otzelberger first took Iowa State to the Sweet 16 in 2022, that wasn’t the case.
“[They’ve] got a good basketball team, a team that can compete for the Big 12 title,” Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz said. “And in my opinion, one that can compete for a national title.”
Guard Tamin Lipsey and forward Joshua Jefferson may be the most complete players at their respective positions. Lipsey doesn’t have to score to affect a game, but he was everywhere even in foul trouble — 11 points, three rebounds, four assists and four steals. It’s now become surprising when Jefferson doesn’t have a double-double. But he finished with 19 points, five rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal.
Milan Momcilovic may be the nation’s best 3-point shooter when the season is done. He passed 1,000 points for his career on Saturday and finished with 18 points, including a trio of 3-pointers.
Surrounding that trio are freshman Killian Toure, who could be this program’s next great player, who finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Forward Blake Buchanan, a Virginia transfer, had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.
In ISU’s starting five, there was 70 points, 25 rebounds, 17 assists and eight steals on Saturday. Otzelberger has preached defense since he arrived, but sharing the basketball has emerged as a thread on this team.
“If he’s [Jefferson] got a defender on him, he can go find his shot,” Momcilovic said. “If he has a double team, he’s looking to pass to the open guy. He found me a couple of times [today] and he’s found me all year. It’s a joy to play with him.”
Iowa State’s Depth on Display
ISU also has a strong bench. Four played on Saturday — Nate Heise, Jamarion Batemon, Dominic Nelson and Dominyka Pleta. Nelson and Pleta combined for 13 points, most of which came in the first half when the Cyclones were locked in a tight game with the Cowboys.
Heise didn’t score, but he spent 28 minutes defending the Cowboys’ best guard. Batemon didn’t play as much as usual, in part because Nelson gave the Cyclones a boost in the first half.
“Opportunities are going to come their way,” Otzelberger said. “And we know that because of that competitive endurance, whether it’s an injury, getting sick, hurt, there’s going to be things that happen — foul trouble, and we’ve been experiencing more of all those things, [they] are going to happen. So, everybody gets ready.”
The second half was Iowa State’s to control. The Cyclones started on an 11-4 run. They outrebounded the Cowboys, 24-10, in the final 20 minutes, much to Lutz’s chagrin. Momcilovic only scored two points, so Buchanan and others stepped up. A nearly-packed Hilton Coliseum made things insufferable for Oklahoma State at times.
Around the Big 12 on Saturday
The Cyclones walked out of Hilton Coliseum on Saturday evening undefeated. Arizona walked out of TCU’s Schollmaier Arena on Saturday undefeated. The pair remain among the elite in mid-January and won’t meet until March. By then, it’s likely each will have lost a game. As Kansas coach Bill Self said on Saturday after losing to West Virginia in Morgantown, “The Big 12 is a bitch.”
The Cyclones are built for it. Not just the Big 12 but the rigors of what might be the most wide-open NCAA Tournament in years. Saturday offered the perfect window into what makes the Cyclones so good, so formidable and so dangerous to any other team in the country. It’s the intangibles that matter as much as the tangible to Otzelberger, as he talked about why his team is so tough in big moments.
“They’re unified, and they count on each other in those moments,” he said. “And then, look, I think the last part of it is just, you know, pride in your program, pride in, you know, everything your family’s done to put you in this position, all the sacrifices you make, and just having that sense of pride kick in and say, ‘You know what? I will not be denied because of how invested I am in this [and] how important it is.’”
These Cyclones may not be denied in April. It’s a possibility that likely makes former Cyclones like Jeff Hornacek, Ron Virgil and the rest of that 1986 team smile with pride.
