Iowa State basketball: 3 takeaways from the Cyclones' 2OT loss to BYU

Iowa State basketball: 3 takeaways from the Cyclones’ 2OT loss to BYU

Posted by author March 5, 2025 Basketball

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AMES—All the different forms of Iowa State basketball that have been seen throughout this season appeared at one point or another throughout Tuesday night’s 50 minutes of action.

The No. 10 Cyclones had their senior night spoiled in a double-overtime game against No. 22 BYU. They overcame a 21-point deficit but ultimately lost, 88-85, to fall to 22-8 overall and 12-7 in Big 12 play.

Tuesday night wasn’t the result they wanted to send their seniors off in their final home game, but it encapsulated the Cyclones’ season. The highs were glorious, enough to send Hilton Coliseum to a 120-decibel frenzy at one point. The lows were frustrating – filled with self-inflicted mistakes and other moments where Iowa State wasn’t executing to its potential. Then, the ugly moments brought an existential crisis surrounding the NCAA Tournament floor and ceiling for the Cyclones.

The loss also put Iowa State on course to get the No. 5 seed at the Big 12 tournament. It’s not fully sealed, but the odds of having any chance to move up are slim. It will require second-place Texas Tech to lose its final two games of the season.

Joshua Jefferson led Iowa State with 19 points, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Milan Momcilovic added 18 points. Curtis Jones had 16 points. Tamin Lipsey finished with 15 points, eight assists, three steals and no turnovers. Keshon Gilbert had 13 points, eight steals and two blocks.

The Cyclones had an opportunity to take the lead and possibly win the game with the final possession of the first overtime period, but they turned it over and the game remained tied, pushing it into a second overtime.

In the second overtime, Iowa State was down two and had a shot clock violation with four seconds remaining in the game. The Cyclones froze up and were forced to settle for an off-balanced 3 that missed the basket.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

The good: Cyclones forced 29 turnovers, overcame 21-point deficit with small-ball lineup

It doesn’t matter what team or what level of basketball it is, but to battle back from a 54-33 deficit after BYU’s Dallin Hall threw down a two-handed alley-oop slam with 13:16 left in regulation is impressive.

The Cyclones found success when they switched to a more small-ball lineup, as centers Dishon Jackson and Brandton Chatfield played just 12 minutes each. They also dealt with foul trouble, but Iowa State was most effective against BYU using a four-guard lineup and Jefferson at center.

BYU had a tough time dealing with the Cyclones’ ball pressure, and Iowa State kept getting momentum-boosting turnovers to fuel its comeback.

The Cyclones forced a season-high 29 turnovers, which they converted into 34 points. Twenty-four of those turnovers came during regulation.

Offensively, they were able to run out in transition more and were more effective overall. Iowa State shot 25-of-64 (39.1%) for the entire game, but over the final 13:16 of regulation and both overtime periods, it shot 15-of-28 (53.6%).

Iowa State basketball: TJ Otzelberger on Cyclones’ small-ball vs. BYU

Iowa State shifted to a small-ball lineup throughout the second half and remainder of the game. T.J. Otzelberger discussed its effectiveness.

Iowa State also trimmed down its turnovers, recording only 11 for the game. Seven of those turnovers came in regulation.

“It was able to keep faster guys on their guys, so we can disrupt and get into the basketball more,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said of the small-ball lineup. “It’s what allowed us to turn them over 29 times and they’re a team that takes great care of the ball, and we were able to turn them over. You get to points in the game and there’s a lineup or certain guys who are earning those minutes in real time because of what they’re doing to get you back into the game.

“Ultimately, if we would have found a way to rebound the basketball or not get down right away to start each overtime because of mental focus, we’d have put ourselves in a great spot. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that.”

Iowa State basketball: Curtis Jones’ thoughts after 2OT loss to BYU

Iowa State guard Curtis Jones shares his thoughts after the Cyclones’ double-overtime loss to BYU on Tuesday night.

The bad: Iowa State got beat on the glass, put itself in too big of a hole

The small-ball lineup also came at a price. The Cyclones gave up some size and against a team like BYU that has length across the board, they got demolished on the glass, 52-24.

Even with the size disadvantage, it felt like the margin still could have been closer. The Cyclones have previously shown that even their guards are tough enough to track down those missed shots and corral loose balls. Nate Heise led the Cyclones with five boards in the loss.

A credit to BYU’s Keba Keita, who racked up 15 rebounds for the Cougars, including nine offensive boards.

Despite the wide rebounding margin, Iowa State was able to limit BYU to just nine second-chance points for the game.

“Our defense was really good, our first shot defense and second shot defense,” Momcilovic said. “I don’t know what they shot from the field, but it was their offensive rebounds that killed us, but that’s what you kind of get with playing four guards. We all got to box out and obviously, we didn’t do the job tonight.”

The defense did improve and was more disruptive when the Cyclones went small later in the game, but not when the Cougars got multiple good looks at the basket and used a 28-8 run late in the first half to take a 33-24 halftime lead.

They also shot the ball well over the first seven minutes of the second half to build a 21-point lead.

“There was a 15, 16-minute stretch where we put ourselves in such a tough spot and credit to our guys and their fight for continuing to compete and get back into it, but the same time, you can’t do that,” Otzelberger said. “You can’t do that against good teams… It’s a lesson that we should have learned by now and that we need to never learn again. We need to understand the truth is, there’s going to be times where we struggle to score.

“There’s going to be times where the offense isn’t flowing and we saw what our defense can be when we focus on prioritizing that, and we just got to do a better job of being over ourselves and out of our individual agendas offensively and pour everything into defending and rebounding, and we’ll put ourselves in a much better spot.”

In both overtime periods, the Cyclones quickly fell into four-point deficits to start, which also made it difficult to complete the comeback.

Iowa State basketball: TJ Otzelberger addresses Cyclones inconsistency

After Iowa State’s double-overtime loss to BYU, coach T.J. Otzelberger discussed how the Cyclones will fix inconsistencies moving forward.

The ugly: The inconsistencies this late in the season

There’s only one more regular season game before the Big 12 Tournament.

With the 5-seed a likely outcome for the Cyclones, there will be a maximum of four games in Kansas City.

There isn’t much time left to deal with shortcomings and inconsistencies before the NCAA Tournament.

Earlier in the year, it felt like one of the Cyclones’ greatest strengths was their consistency on both ends of the court. They were able to win in various scenarios as they started the year 15-1 and soared to a No. 2 ranking in the polls, their highest in program history.

Adversity struck with various injuries and while Iowa State had been able to remain a top 10 team for 18 weeks, the Cyclones are still trying to regain that consistent winning momentum.

“We’re down the stretch pretty far, we talk to our guys a lot about our best being in front of us,” Otzelberger said. “You don’t just speak it into existence. You’ve got to earn it through the hard work and what you do in practice, and then demand that consistency of those habits in the game and not be a team that plays great for stretches and then plays awful for stretches. For a group that has a lot of older, experienced guys, we need to be a lot more mature as a team and be able to play through those things instead of react to those things.”

How does Otzelberger plan on addressing it with his team?

“You just decide mentally that’s what you’re going to do,” he said. “You just need to keep your mental focus and not have whatever’s not going your way offensively get to you. I know that it’s late in the season, but we just showed last week, we played poorly on Tuesday (against Oklahoma State) and played great on Saturday. It’s really a mindset thing of how much you want to do it. How committed are you to your habits? How much more does winning mean to you than your shot going in or your turnovers or what might not be going your way? If you prioritize winning and the team as the most important thing, then you make that choice and commit to it.

“…We’re done with the inconsistent thing. We’re done with the individual agendas offensively, and it’s time for us to start playing to the level of the team that we know we are.”

Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.