AMES — An efficient start and 40 points from the bench led No. 8 Iowa State to a dominating 97-67 win over Colorado Thursday night.
Defense drives early momentum
Under the leadership of head coach T.J. Otzelberger, it is no surprise that the Cyclones came out against the Buffaloes with high motivation defensively, as they currently rank third in the country and highest among Power Conference schools in forced turnovers.
“Our players learned what a top 10 team in the country looks like,” Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said. “And Iowa State’s a top 10 team in the country.”
Although the Buffaloes secured the jumpball, earning the first offensive possession of the game, the Cyclones did not let that deter them and came full swing with aggressiveness as Colorado faced a shock clock violation right away.
Not long after, freshman guard Killyan Toure stole the ball from Colorado graduate center Elijah Malone and sprinted down the court for a layup, bringing the Cyclones to a 4-3 lead and not looking back.
Junior forward Blake Buchanan continued the defensive drive, securing possession off a Colorado bad pass, causing senior forward Joshua Jefferson to secure a layup.
Joining the defensive fun, redshirt senior guard Nate Heise made a break down the court for a dunk after swiping the ball from Colorado junior forward Bangot Dak, for a 30-4 lead in the first nine minutes of play.
Making their time count in Hilton Coliseum, the Cyclones finished the first 20 minutes with a 52-29 lead, highly contributed from their five steals and securing 12 points off Colorado’s seven forced turnovers.
“The bottom line is this, we need to focus on getting stops and playing physical defense,” Otzelberger said. “When we do that, things go our way on offense.”
It’s raining threes in Hilton
It was no surprise that we would see the best shooter in the nation, junior forward Milan Momcilovic, get hot from deep; however, four players joined him from behind the arc.
With Momcilovic securing the first three of the night, it wasn’t long after that the Cyclones secured four shots in a row from deep, with Jefferson starting the streak, freshman guard Jamarion Batemon securing back-to-back threes, then senior guard Tamin Lipsey finishing with a stepback jump shot.
Within the first half, four players in cardinal and gold secured at least one shot from deep, contributing to the Cyclones’ 53.8 three-point percentage and 21 points.
In the second half, the crowd only continued to rise on their feet for the Cyclones as Iowa State shot 47.6% overall from deep, grabbing 30 points.
Leading the momentum from behind the arc was Batemon, who went 4-for-6; close behind was Momcilovic, who went 3-for-6.
Batemon leads bench points
Seven players on the bench stepped up when it mattered, putting together 40 bench points, compared to Colorado’s 17 bench points.
Following his two back-to-back shots from deep and a team high of 12 points in the first half, Batemon only continued his momentum off the bench in the second half.
Although leaning more on the defensive side in the last 20 minutes, Batemon still contributed a free throw and a stepback jumpshot from deep. Batemon ended the night with a team high of 17 points, after going 5-for-8 from the field and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe and two rebounds.
“I just got to do the best I can to impact winning,” Batemon said. “Because that’s the ultimate goal.”
However, Batemon was not the only one thriving off the bench, with freshman forward Dominykas Pleta securing 12 points after shooting 4-for-4 from the field and earning a season high of four offensive rebounds, overall contributing to six rebounds during his career high of 16 minutes of action.
“We put a big pride on getting offensive rebounds,” Pleta said. “We battle each other, who gets the first one.”
Heise, off the bench, secured eight points and a matching eight rebounds, tying with Jefferson with a team high. Alongside four assists, one steal and three personal fouls.
“I thought Nate Heise had the best game he’s had in a while,” Otzelberger said. “Just brought physical, was on the glass right away.”
In the last two minutes of the game, the five positions on the court were made up of all bench players. With junior guard Cade Kelderman securing one point and freshman guard Anthony Rise gathering his first two points of his time at Iowa State.
