The No. 4 Cyclones have a chance to improve their Cy-Hawk win streak to three as they host the Hawkeyes at 7 p.m. Thursday night.
Iowa State is coming off a statement win over No. 1 Purdue, where it pounced on the Boilermakers 81-58. The 23-point win helped the Cyclones retain the highest average margin of victory at +30, while improving to 9-0 on the season.
The dominant win over the top team in the country propelled the Cyclones up the rankings, jumping from No. 10 to No. 4, just two spots behind the highest Iowa State ranking ever, No. 2, which was reached a season ago.
The Hawkeyes’ record is not far behind the Cyclones, though, as they have posted an 8-1 record, with the only loss coming against No. 7 Michigan State. The revamped roster under new head coach Ben McCollum is looking to make some noise in the Big 10 and nationally this season.
“He’s [McCollum] got a handful of guys that have been with him, so they’re very coachable, you can tell they’re connected,” head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “They believe in his way of doing things, and then he’s got some new guys, some freshmen and a couple transfers that have fit in nicely for him.”
When the teams tip off Thursday night, it will be the 79th time the two have met, with the Hawkeyes leading the all-time series 48-30. Recent history has been more evenly matched, with the teams splitting the last 10 games 5-5.
With nine new faces on Iowa State, the importance of this rivalry is not lost, as players like senior Tamin Lipsey have been able to fill them in. Freshman guard Killyan Toure is looking forward to the rivalry, or, as he and many others in Europe call local rivalries, a derby.
“I know it’s really important,” Toure said. “I like to play games like that, you know, derbies. I played a lot of derbies back home so I know the importance of that, the mindset we have to have.”
The leader for Iowa is Drake transfer guard Bennett Stirtz, who averages 18.8 points, 4.9 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game while shooting 45% from three. No other player on Iowa averages double-digit points.
“He’s got a really impressive game, handles the ball super well, facilitates, comes off a lot of screens and obviously shoots the ball at a very high clip and knocks them down,” Lipsey said. “He makes their team go, so really excited for that matchup for us, defensively, just as a team, it’ll be a good challenge for us.”
With Stirtz being the main guy and no other players serving as a major scoring threat, it will be important that the Cyclones force turnovers and get the ball out of Stirtz’s hands, making other players contribute and score.
“I think it starts with the ball pressure and trying to throw off timing, trying to disrupt actions and trying to get the ball stuck with one guy where it’s being dribbled and we can kind of load up our defenders,” Otzelberger said. “Ultimately, even more than the schematic part or the things we designed, there’s got to be a sense of how important it is to get stops.”
With the in-state rival coming to Hilton Coliseum, the nine new faces on the Cyclones get to experience something they probably haven’t truly felt yet this year, Hilton Magic. With this being the first home game against a power conference opponent, the crowd will likely be the best they’ve seen all season.
“I’m excited for all the guys that haven’t really gotten to experience it for real yet,” Lipsey said. “Obviously, we’ve had some home games, but when you get to one of these, it’s going to be a lot different. I feel like I can tell them what it’s going to be like, but they just got to wait till they step on the court and experience it.”
This game might hold some more value for Lipsey, who went to Ames High School and grew up an Iowa State fan, and is now playing in the final Cy-Hawk game of his career. In his three matchups against the Hawkeyes, Lipsey has averaged 11 points, six rebounds and has a 2-1 record.
“There’s definitely more emotions than a normal game, just knowing my background and being a Cyclone fan my whole life,” Lipsey said. “At the same time, it is just another game. You can’t think of it as any different, because we’re not going to go out there and play different.”
