Head coach T. J. Otzelberger addressed positives from the season opener ahead of the second game of the season against Lindenwood and the talents of top recruits from the 2024 class added on national signing day.

Monday’s matchup against Green Bay was the debut for seven new Cyclones, with a few standing in their first game in front of the Hilton crowd.

The most notable performance of the newcomers came from freshman forward Milan Momcilovic, who sank six threes and finished as Iowa State’s top scorer with 18 points along with seven boards in 28 minutes.

While Momcilovic’s offensive performance was impressive for his collegiate debut, Otzelberger believes that his ability to score from beyond the arch is one of the many factors that he can contribute to the team.

“Milan [Momcilovic] is a terrific basketball player,” Otzelberger said. “Defensively he’s really elevated himself. On the glass, he’s done a great job rebounding. He’s a guy that can create confusion for the defense when he’s really on the move. He’s a very complete basketball player and we’re going to continue to challenge him and to be that every time out.”

As a team, the Cyclones took away inside shots from Green Bay early in the first half and forced them to take outside shots, which they were quick to defend as well.

The Phoenix finished 8-for-33 from three-point land and 13-for-46 from the field and showed that Iowa State’s trusty defense in the Otzelberger era has transitioned well with the new guys.

Senior forward Robert Jones, who has been with Otzelberger every year at Iowa State since transferring from Denver, gave a lot of credit to the newcomers for the way they executed defensively and the speed at which they played.

“I really liked how we scrambled on defense,” Jones said. “The pass would come out, someone would rotate to the pass and I really like how well we scrambled and got to the open ball and made them make one more pass.”

Offensively, the new players proved why Otzelberger and his staff brought them in and veterans like Tamin Lipsey and Tre King showed improvement from last season. No matter who had the ball in their hands, the offense ran smoothly and displayed a unique style of play compared to Otzelbergers’ first two seasons at Iowa State.

With the experience of King and Jones, the Cyclones successfully pushed the ball inside and showed a variety of playmaking with Lipsey and University of Nevada, Las Vegas transfer Keshon Gilbert constantly setting up plays.

Otzelberger hopes to see his team’s ability to create shots outside with their pressure on the inside improve throughout the season, and be one of their biggest strengths heading into conference play.

“Certainly an intent to get the ball in the paint more,” Otzelberger said. “By getting in there we think that will create more wide-open three-point opportunities or a chance for us to get to the foul line.”

Jones is optimistic that this team could be the best one offensively that he’s been a part of during his time as a Cyclone and could complete them as a team considering how the defense has not missed a beat.

“What we showed is that we have a very good offensive presence as well which is something we’ve been lacking the last two years,” Jones said. “I think that because we’ve always been a good defensive team bringing that offense along with it is gonna be really good and show up for us in big games.”

Wednesday was national signing day for the 2024 recruiting class, and while they are following up the best recruiting class in program history, a pair of incoming guards for the Cyclones look to add to the young talent that Otzelberger has brought in.

Nojus Indrusaitis, a four-star recruit from Illinois, and Dwayne Pierce, a three-star recruit from New York, signed their letters of intent to join Iowa State next season.

Otzelberger discussed the talents that each player possesses, with a focus on Indrusaitis’s ability to create shots and make plays and Pierce’s ability to move the ball into the paint, and his excitement for them to join the team next season.

“With taller guards like both of them are, it gives you the ability to play over the top of the defense,” Otzelberger said. “I just think with both guys’ ability to knock down a shot and drive the ball to the rim creates stress for the defense.”