Amidst various shooting woes from the starting five, a variety of players stepped up and showed out for the No. 3 Cyclones to secure an 83-71 victory at home against Oklahoma State.
Despite scoring performances from senior forward Joshua Jefferson (19 points) and junior forward Milan Momcilovic (18 points), Iowa State showed vulnerabilities throughout the game. Those weaknesses were offset as additional Cyclones stepped up, securing a 12-point victory inside Hilton Coliseum, marking Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger’s 100th conference win.
Jefferson found the most success from the charity stripe to accumulate points, securing 10, as his various shots from around the court fell through, shooting 4-for-14 from the field and 1-for-5 from deep.
“I don’t think I played my best tonight,” Jefferson said. “Definitely got to play better, not happy with my performance, but proud of how everybody else stepped up as well.”
Alongside Jefferson, Momcilovic had a hot start, going 3-for-3 from deep to drive the Cyclones to a two-point lead before halftime. But for the last twenty minutes on the court, Momcilovic secured only two points after making zero of his two attempted triples and going 1-for-4 from the field.
Despite the strong contributions of both players, the Cyclones still had a variety of missed point opportunities and lacked their usual offensive momentum as the team overall shot 27-for-58 from the field and 5-for-16 from deep.
“I think [Oklahoma State] just play us well,” Momcilovic said. “Obviously, last year we went down there and we got beat pretty handily. They got the same coaching staff, so a lot of new different players, but [Steve Lutz] is a good coach, shout out to him, he puts a good game plan together and they played well today.”
Due to the shooting woes, Iowa State was able to rely on a handful of players to gain momentum and start scoring drives, to approach the team’s 16th win of the season.
The Cyclones secured 16 bench points from senior guard Dominick Nelson and freshman forward Dominykas Pleta. Nelson, who secured seven points, made all of his buckets back-to-back, starting with a driving layup off an opponent turnover to take Iowa State’s first lead of the game at 32-30.
“I’m really proud of Dominick [Nelson] because he’s been so impactful when we’ve called his number,” Otzelberger said. “Gone in there against Mississippi State, he had a huge run before half against Purdue, he had a huge run before half today, he’s so dynamic and he can get the game going his way in transition.”
Without looking back, Nelson continued to drive to the basket, and had a successful jumpshot and a free-throw to secure the Cyclones a 37-36 lead. Nelson overall went 3-for-5 from the field and secured one rebound.
Pleta, known for his size at 6-foot-11, could push his way to the basket. In his first time on the court in the first half, Pleta secured a dunk before being substituted out. Back in the second half, Pleta made two layups, overall going 3-for-3 from the field and grabbing four rebounds during his nine minutes of play.
“Pleta stepped up really well, [Nate] Heise did a really good job defending the ball today,” Jefferson said. “So just proud of everybody.”
Iowa State’s leading point guard was out for the majority of the game after obtaining three fouls in the first half, similar to the Cyclones’ previous victory against Baylor, where senior guard Tamin Lipsey secured two fouls in the first three minutes.
Facing foul trouble, Lipsey was still able to secure 11 points during his 24 minutes on the court. However, freshman guard Killyan Toure stepped up in all the ways that it mattered, securing 12 points, a team high of seven rebounds and five assists.
However, during his time on the court, Lipsey went 4-for-9 from the field, Toure went 3-for-6, and who was the one to always rebound the missed shots? Junior forward Blake Buchanan, who heavily contributed to the Cyclones’ overall 12 second-chance points.
“Blake [Buchanan] had a monster second half,” Otzelberger said. “I mean the lob that he went and caught at, I don’t know, felt like 12 feet and finished it was ridiculous, he’s a freak.”
Always at the right position around the basket, Buchanan ended the game with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.
All quotes used are provided by Cyclone Fanatic.
