AMES- From the beginning, T.J. Otzelberger preached that his team would be about defense first.

Little did they know just how much he meant it, especially as the roster gels together.

The first three games of the season have all been wins for Iowa State, but none of them have featured terrific offensive performances. There were a couple of offensive bright spots against Alabama State, as well as a welcomed change in the turnover margin.

Izaiah Brockington continues to shine

Coming into the program, Brockington had been seeing continuous growth on the stat sheet, and was racking up meaningful minutes in Power Five conference play.

He transferred to Iowa State, and has continued to see strides being made. So far this season, Brockington has averaged 17 points per game on 48 percent shooting. He’s also added in 10.3 rebounds per game. Averaging a double-double through three games, it’s clear he’s made an impact for Otzelberger and the team.

“[Izaiah] has the ability to just impose his will on the game at any point,” Otzelberger said. “Whether it’s guarding the basketball, getting a rebound, finishing at the rim… he’s a terrific player, he’s a competitor, he’s a winner and he does a lot of winning things.”

Those winning things included scoring 23 points and grabbing 13 rebounds on almost 53 percent shooting in the Cyclones’ most recent contest.

His biggest rebound of the night was on the offensive end, as he corralled a missed three-pointer from Tyrese Hunter and slammed it home with about two minutes remaining.

It changed the momentum in Iowa State’s favor for good, as it put the home team up six and got the crowd at Hilton Coliseum as loud as it had been all night.

Brockington led the team in minutes played as well as scored the team-high with 23 points, and he’s been a consistent and reliable presence on both ends for the Cyclones so far this season.

Hunter continues to show growth

Three games into his collegiate career, no one is expecting Tyrese Hunter to make every play, or carry his team to victories. They’re hoping that he learns more and more and continues to experience everything a point guard at Iowa State can experience.

He’s had a lot of trial-by-fire so far, as he’s been relied on to play upwards of 30 minutes a game and lead the offense in the half-court. Against Alabama State, he was also being shown a multitude of different looks from the Hornets, a combination of zone and man schemes.

It’d be hard for any true freshman to feel comfortable against an ever-changing defensive front, but Hunter found a way often enough to propel his team to victory.

He had 19 points and six assists in his 32 minutes of action. He also added in three steals, the last leading to a dunk-in transition that put his team up eight in the waning minutes.

It was a solid game for the point guard, but not perfect. He did make a couple of questionable decisions late in the game that helped keep it close. His head coach understands it’s all a part of the learning process, and has all the trust in the world that Hunter will continue to grow.

“When you care as much as [Hunter] does, and you want to win as badly as he does, he’s going to continue to take huge strides forward and make sure we close out games better,” Otzelberger said. 

Turnover margin much improved

Iowa State averaged 20.5 turnovers a game through the first two contests. For a team that preached about taking care of the basketball before the season even started, it was a number the Cyclones surely were hoping would come down soon.

It certainly did in the game against Alabama State. In the first half, the Cyclones committed just one turnover. While they certainly weren’t shooting the lights out, holding onto the basketball and not letting the Hornets get out in transition worked wonders for them while they tried to find their shot.

When asked what the reason was for the reduced turnovers, Otzelberger was fairly confident in the answer.

“Probably because they’re so sick of listening to their coach every single day harp on toughness with the ball, play off two feet… that may or may have not been the entire pre-game talk was about valuing the ball and ball toughness,” he said. 

Iowa State won the turnover margin by 15, turning the Hornets over 23 times compared to their eight. Another meaningful statistic that went the way of the Cyclones was points off turnovers. Iowa State had 20 compared to 14 for Alabama State.

Otzelberger has said in the past that the way to victory for this new and developing roster was making other teams uncomfortable on offense and turning that discomfort into easy buckets for his team by running in transition off turnovers or missed shots.