After a valiant effort against No. 4 Houston while down its top two scorers, No. 9 Iowa State made the trip to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to face Oklahoma State, with hopes of getting back in the win column.
This season hasn’t exactly been one to remember for the Cowboys. Coming into Tuesday night, they sat in 14th place in the Big 12 at 5-11 and were 13-14 overall.
With the Cyclones getting leading scorer Curtis Jones back in the lineup, there seemed to be no reason why they should lose the game, even if it was on the road.
Despite these factors, Oklahoma State dominated Iowa State early, leading by 14 in the first half. The Cyclones gave a valiant comeback effort in the second half but eventually fell short, taking a 74-68 loss to the Cowboys.
Nightmare first half proves too much to overcome
While the final score might suggest that the Cyclones were simply on the wrong end of a back-and-forth affair, that could not have been further from the case. In fact, Iowa State didn’t lead at all. The reason? It dug itself too big of a hole in the first half.
To start, Iowa State found little success shooting the ball in the first half. The Cyclones shot just 36% from the field, 30.8% from 3-point range and most surprisingly, 44.4% from the free throw line.
But shooting might not have been the Cyclones’ biggest problem offensively in the first half. Instead, turnovers might have been what did them in.
Iowa State committed 11 first-half turnovers, tied for the most in a first half this season. And while the Cyclones have been prone to turn the ball over a little more than they would like lately, usually, they do a good job of stopping the opponent from capitalizing on the mistakes.
Iowa State did not do a good job of this on Tuesday, as its 11 first-half turnovers led directly to 15 points for the Cowboys.
This is why, despite shooting 41.9% from the field and 25% from 3-point range, Oklahoma State was able to score 40 points and lead by 14 at halftime.
Lipsey struggles to produce on offense
In a game where putting points on the board was difficult for the Cyclones, Tamin Lipsey particularly struggled, especially in the first half.
The junior point guard, usually a steady figure for the Cyclones, was anything but that. Lipsey went 1-for-7 in the first half, with all seven of his shot attempts coming from behind the arc and he turned the ball over three times in the first half.
Lipsey differed more in the second half and finished the game with nine points on 3-for-11 shooting from the field and 1-for-8 from 3-point range, along with five rebounds, four assists and four turnovers.
This was the worst game of the season in terms of shooting percentage from the field and 3-point range (minimum of four attempts). Lipsey’s four turnovers also tied a season-high.
This game was very uncharacteristic for Lipsey, but it would be a shock if he did not bounce back.
Ousmane torches Cyclone defense
Iowa State didn’t necessarily do a bad job defensively. It held the Cowboys to sub-par shooting splits at 42.4% from the field and 26.1% from behind the arc, but the Cowboys’ Abou Ousmane consistently found a way to put the ball in the basket.
Coming into the game, Ousmane was Oklahoma State’s third-leading scorer, averaging 11.8 points per game, but he caught fire Tuesday night.
The senior forward scored 25 points, his second-highest total of the season. He went 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range, his most attempts from behind the arc all season. Ousmane also hurt the Cyclones at the line, where he went a perfect 8-for-8.
Ousmane was by far the best player on the court in the game and was the leading contributor to the Cowboys’ stunning upset win.
A couple of bright spots
Despite the shocking loss, there were a couple of positives to take away.
To start, senior guard Nate Heise’s improvement on the offensive side of the ball took another step in the positive direction. Heise had struggled offensively earlier in the year but is currently on the best three-game streak of the season.
Last week, Heise scored a season-high 11 points in the Cyclones victory over Colorado. Then on Saturday against Houston, he set another season high with 12 points.
Tuesday night against Oklahoma State, he followed up that performance with yet another season-high scoring output, this time putting up 13 points on 66.7% shooting from the field and 75% from 3-point range.
Heise’s offensive progression has been a great sign for the Cyclones despite the last two losses.
The Cyclones also got back star sixth-man Jones, who missed Saturday’s game against Houston with an illness.
Jones struggled a bit against the Cowboys, going 2-for-8 from the field and 1-of-3 from behind the arc, but it is undoubtedly a benefit for Iowa State to have Jones healthy and back in the lineup.
