Well, that was a fun one. By that, of course, I am talking about No. 2 Iowa State’s dominating 74-57 win over No. 9 Kansas in Hilton Coliseum.
Senior guard Curtis Jones continues to be a superstar in the making, as he led the Cyclones to their third consecutive victory over the Jayhawks in Ames with a 25-point performance. 20 of those came in the first half.
While I know that Jones could’ve had more points, we will still appreciate what he has done thus far and continue to appreciate the special player that is continuing to blossom in front of our very own eyes.
The odd thing about Jones’ performance was that he did all this as a starter. He has been notoriously known for coming off the bench as a sixth man, and what head coach T.J. Otzelberger refers to as a sixth starter. But he dominated once again, like he has done all season.
The reason for Jones’ change in rotation hasn’t just come from his play on the court, but rather because of an injury to a current starter.
As announced by the Iowa State men’s basketball X page prior to Wednesday night’s game, starting sophomore forward Milan Momcilovic was ruled out indefinitely after sustaining an injury to his left hand during practice that week heading into the game.
The unofficial timetable that has been thrown around for Momcilovic’s recovery has been anywhere between 4-6 weeks.
With Iowa State heading into an important matchup against Kansas, it was a crushing blow to lose a player of Momcilovic’s skill and size, because of his ability to space the floor and create opportunities on the offensive end.
On the season, the 6-foot 8-inch forward averaged 10.3 points on 46.6% field goal shooting, 44.3% from 3-point range, along with averaging 3.5 rebounds in 24.8 minutes per game.
While these numbers don’t scream off the page as “superstar numbers,” Momcilovic played an integral part in the Cyclones’ success not only this season but also last season, as he earned a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
Now, as Iowa State enters the bulk of Big 12 conference play without its rising star, it’s time to look at the potential pros and cons to see how, and if, the Cyclones can sustain success without Momcilovic.
Let’s start with the pros.
That begins with Wednesday night’s win over the Jayhawks. To fill Momcilovic’s spot in the starting lineup was Jones, who, as mentioned earlier, continues to shine when the lights are the brightest.
Other than Jones, it looked as if everyone who usually plays got their usual expected minutes and contributed in the ways they have been this season (minus the switch from forward Brandton Chatfield for center Dishon Jackson in the starting lineup, but that was due to an internal issue).
But, the one player that got more playing time than he was used to was junior Demarion Watson.
The 6-foot 7-inch guard has spent the majority of the season getting little to no playing time on the court, as his last appearance for Iowa State was on Dec. 15, when the Cyclones handled Omaha 83-51.
In that game against the Mavericks, Watson had only played four total minutes, but managed to score two points on one shot attempt. He also had two rebounds, one on each side of the court.
With the injury to Momcilovic, it opened up an extra spot for a player, who hadn’t seen a lot of court action, to get in and contribute in a positive way for Iowa State.
That is exactly what happened Wednesday night, as Watson was able to play a key piece in helping the Cyclones take down a conference foe.
In his 10 minutes of court time, Watson only managed to score a single point but had bigger contributions away from scoring points. Watson recorded five rebounds, two of which were off the offensive glass and had a chase-down block that sent Hilton Coliseum into a frenzy.
Especially with Watson’s size and length, it comes as a surprise to see him getting less playing time with the effort he shows on the court. But now in his third season with Iowa State, Watson will look to continue to make the best of his opportunities in the limited playing time he gets with the injury to Momcilovic.
In their game against Kansas, the Cyclones did not look to skip a beat, despite missing one of their key pieces, which brings me to the cons of whether Iowa State can sustain this success going forward.
As mentioned before, the Cyclones are beginning the bulk of their conference games, with each game presenting a new challenge.
The next game on the schedule for Iowa State is a trip to Morgantown, West Virginia, as the Cyclones take on the Mountaineers, who have had a solid start to their season by going 12-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big 12.
Needless to say, playing at West Virginia will be the biggest challenge of them all. It is known to have loud environments from their passionate fanbase.
As we saw in the overtime thriller against Texas Tech, Iowa State had to battle through the road environment to eke out a key win over a conference opponent.
More of the same will occur this Saturday, but without one of the Cyclones’ key starters in Momcilovic, not having him could prove to be a problem not just for this game, but for the rest of the time he is out.
This will be a true test to show the adaptability of Iowa State, and whether it can truly come together with a “next man up” mentality, as it has shown thus far, to overcome another obstacle as a team.
