KANSAS CITY — With a slow first five minutes, the No. 7 Cyclones pulled together various momentum-seeking moments and big energy to secure a dominant 75-53 victory over No. 16 Texas Tech in the Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals on Thursday.
However, it was senior guard Tamin Lipsey who got the momentum rolling for the Cyclones as he hit a 3-point jumper with an assist from Joshua Jefferson to get the ball moving outside of the paint.
Lipsey’s shot was quickly followed by his own runaround jumper to get Hilton South hyped up and started a 15-2 run over the Red Raiders, bringing Iowa State to its first lead of the game of 20-19.
With a continuous back-and-forth between the two teams, it was redshirt senior guard Nate Heise who brought the next spurt of momentum.
With 4:40 left on the clock during the first half, freshman guard Jamarion Batemon went up for a 3-point jumper but missed long. Heise had a clear opening to the basket and went full sprint, almost out of nowhere, to grab the ball still in the air and slam it down for a second-chance tip-in dunk, to bring the Cyclones back to the lead at 26-25.
“Just passed it and then I saw [Batemon] was gonna shoot a three and we’re gonna box out it all, so I just ran to the rim and then it kind of got a perfect bounce, then took care of the rest,” Heise said.
“That’s a big energy play,” head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “… Nate [Heise] is very capable of making big energy toughness plays consistently for us, and as soon as he went into the game, he made that play.”
At the end of the first half, it looked as though the Cyclones were in the clear for a lead going into the second half, after Lipsey made a layup on the fast break due to a steal by junior forward Blake Buchanan.
Up by three points, with less than a minute in the first half, Texas Tech’s sophomore guard Christian Anderson hit a 3-point jumper to bring the two teams to a 33-33 tie, with 35 seconds left in the half.
But Batemon came prepared, making up for his missed 3-point shot at the beginning of the half and hitting another 3-point jumper with an assist from Jefferson in the final three seconds, bringing Iowa State to a three-point lead to end the half.
“It was huge, you always want to have a little bit of momentum going in halftime,” Lipsey said. “For him to knock down that shot, just for him to get a little bit of confidence, but for a whole group to get into the halftime up three, feeling good, having the crowd all hicked, definitely makes an impact.”
“I felt like it gave us that momentum we needed to come out stronger in the second half,” Batemon said. “Then we took over the game from there.”
Starting the second half, it was finally junior forward Milan Momcilovic’s turn to shine from deep, making his only successful shot from behind the arc, as he went 1-for-6.
Hitting a 3-point jump shot with an assist from Jefferson, Momcilovic started a 15-0 run, bringing the Cyclones to a 20-point lead that ultimately secured Iowa State’s victory.
“Yeah, to see it go through the net was big for me, kind of good for the team,” Momcilovic said. “Joshua [Jefferson] kind of took the game over a little bit for the second half, really took us to another level and that’s when we separated the lead.”
Shortly after, freshman guard Killyan Toure ran the length of the court for a loose ball and dove for the ball right in front of Iowa State’s bench. Otzelberger was the first to lift him off the floor, with a big smile on his face and embraced him.
“That just showed that I love what I’m doing,” Toure said. “It was a good moment, my mom just sent me the video when I dived for the ball, it was definitely a great moment for sure.”
Although heading straight to a victory, the Cyclone still had fun on the court with Lipsey going 8-for-12 from the field, 4-for-7 from deep and securing a team high of 20 points.
Jefferson took off in the second half, recording 18 points of his own after going 8-for-13 from the field, securing a team high 13 rebounds and six assists.
“These two guys right here are absolute warriors; they put their trust in us and they continue to elevate everybody,” Otzelberger said. “Just really proud of both of them.”
Although not a play, but a substitution that made Hilton South go wild was the inclusion of freshman guard Anthony Rise, junior guard Cade Kelderman, senior guard Dominick Nelson and senior forward Eric Mulder to play the final minutes of the game.
