OMAHA, Neb. — The opening 10 minutes of the Cyclones’ second-round matchup with Washington State put the team in a tough spot, missing shots from every level, which put their postseason hopes on the line.
An 0-for-9 start from the field resulted in an early 7-1 deficit for Iowa State, with the team running out of options to generate offense. Keshon Gilbert, Tamin Lipsey and Milan Momcilovic all struggled to connect on shots, and the Cougars were starting to pull ahead at the midway point of the first half.
But the game never got out of hand from the Cyclones’ perspective. They knew their defense was working, holding Washington State to poor shooting despite the deficit, and knew that they just needed to settle into their offense.
“I don’t feel like we ever panicked the coaching staff in the media timeouts, they was just trying to give us solutions and what to look for,” Curtis Jones said.
“We’ve been facing adversity all season, so we used to it,” Gilbert said.
The tides started shifting for the Cyclones after a dunk from Hason Ward, which cut the Cougar lead to six. Iowa State got back to attacking the paint and looked for opportunities to get the free throw line.
Gilbert and Lipsey began to muscle their way into the paint and did not stray away from contact. The pair of forceful guards knew that to get the lead back in their favor, they needed to stay true to their game.
“Me and [Gilbert] were trying to stay aggressive,” Lipsey said. “We were locked in defensively trying to take our minds off the offense, let that come to us, and just stay aggressive like we did.”
The star duo scored the next 14 points for the Cyclones, each with a trio of free throws, and cut the Cougar lead to three. Iowa State rode this offensive spark to tie the game at 27 going into halftime.
The 20-minute break served as a momentary stoppage of the Cyclones getting settled into their offense.
Iowa State erupted to a 6-0 run to start the second half to take the lead, which the Cyclones held on to all the way to the final buzzer.
“Everybody was just saying ‘we good and it will come around’ and eventually it came around,” Gilbert said.
The Cyclones had an answer for every bucket Washington State carved out, outscoring the Cougars 40-29 in the second half on 50% shooting from the field.
They continued to attack the inside and take advantage of the shots the Cougars were letting up. Whether it was a Momcilovic jumper from outside, a feed inside to Ward, or Gilbert and Lipsey taking matters into their own hands, Iowa State executed the opportunities with the ball.
“I feel like we just got our feet settled and got comfortable a little bit,” Ward said. “We were just trying to execute our plays and play with one another and stay connected.”
After struggling for the majority of the first half, the Cyclones climbed out to multiple double-digit leads in the second half to inevitably win 67-56 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
The bond that Iowa State has formed over the season has come from being in these situations before and continuing to overcome them. When the team’s shots are not falling, the Cyclones come together and stay true to their style of play.
While it did not come easy, Iowa State is back in the Sweet Sixteen for the second time in three years. The Cyclones are battle-tested and have shown that no matter what gets thrown at them, the team has a plan for finding out how to win.
“Regardless of how a team defends certain things, we have a plan of attack to take advantage of that,” head coach T.J. Otzelberger said.
