Iowa State basketball: 3 takeaways from the Cyclones' overtime loss to Arizona

Iowa State basketball: 3 takeaways from the Cyclones’ overtime loss to Arizona

Posted by author January 28, 2025 Basketball

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Ouch.

Iowa State men’s basketball was seconds away from securing a victory to beat Arizona at the McKale Center on Monday in Tucson. Caleb Love’s desperate buzzer-beating heave from mid-court plopped right through the hoop to tie the game and force overtime.

From there, the Wildcats rode the momentum and upset the third-ranked Cyclones, 86-75.

Arizona closed overtime on an 11-0 run over the final 2:24 to pull away for the victory.

Tamin Lipsey had 18 points to lead the Cyclones. Keshon Gilbert finished with 17 points and six rebounds. Joshua Jefferson had 15 points. Dishon Jackson chipped in a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.

The road to a potential Big 12 regular-season title and No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed is still there, but it definitely got a bit more difficult for the Cyclones.

Love led Arizona with a game-high 22 points. Tobe Awaka chipped in a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double. K.J. Lewis and Carter Bryant each ahd 14 points off the bench.

Here are three takeaways from the Cyclones’ loss:

Iowa State basketball: TJ Otzelberger explains why Cyclones didnt foul

With a three-point lead over Arizona in the closing seconds, Iowa State basketball coach TJ Otzelberger explains why the Cyclones didn’t foul.

Foul with a three-point lead or not?

It’s easy to say in hindsight. Do you foul up three coming down the stretch or let it ride on your defense?

Jefferson went 1-for-2 at the line with 2.9 seconds on the clock to give the Cyclones a 71-68 lead.

Love received the ball and threw up a heave from beyond half-court that hit nothing but net to push the game into overtime.

“Depending on the clock and the timing, first scenario (up 70-67 after Curtis Jones free throws) presents itself with probably 20.6, so it was a little too early so we’re not fouling there,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “Then at the end, when it’s a couple seconds, it’s easy to look at it now and say, ‘why didn’t you foul in that situation?’ I don’t know what the odds are of that shot going in, but probably not real high – so the odds in that situation are you don’t foul and you’re better off to defend.”

The decision to not foul didn’t seem like a bad one. The Wildcats haven’t been a great three-point shooting team throughout the year and they were shooting just 6-of-25 from beyond the arc before Love’s miracle heave.

It was an unlikely shot. Outside of that game-tying prayer, Iowa State clamped down on Arizona and limited the Wildcats to just one other made shot over the final 3:40 of regulation. The defense was solid overall through regulation.

In overtime, though, Arizona got open looks from the perimeter and it caught fire at a crucial time. It was an unfortunate combination for the Cyclones. The Wildcats had one of their best three-point shooting runs at a pivotal stretch and pulled off the upset. Love hit back-to-back threes to begin the 11-0 run to finish the game.

“It’s tough, especially when you’re playing in a place like this with such a great atmosphere and that just brought life into the arena when he made that shot,” Lipsey said. “Like coach said, we were just trying to bounce back before the (overtime) tip. We went down and scored, and then we just let it get away from us.”

Iowa State basketball: Tamin Lipsey on Cyclones’ mindset going into OT

Iowa State basketball guard Tamin Lipsey gives the Cyclones’ perspective after Arizona’s game-tying shot to force overtime.

Curtis Jones had an off-night

After a career-high performance against Arizona State when he carried the Cyclones through a majority of the game, Jones struggled against the Wildcats.

Jones had been on a tear through conference play, averaging 22.3 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 51.3% overall and 41.8% from deep over the first eight games of Big 12 action.

He was contained against the Wildcats. He finished with eight points on 1-of-11 shooting. He went 6-for-8 from the free-throw line and missed all eight of his three-point attempts.

Jones had five rebounds, two assists and three turnovers. Two of those giveaways came in overtime.

It will be interesting to see how Jones bounces back in Iowa State’s next game. He has had only two other single-digit scoring performances this season.

Overall, it wasn’t Iowa State’s best showing and it didn’t help that its sparkplug couldn’t get going.

Turnovers hindered the Cyclones

Iowa State committed a season-high 18 turnovers in the loss.

The Cyclones had several opportunities where it could have continued to build momentum as they worked their way back into the game and took the lead midway through the second half.

There was a stretch from 14:00 to 11:29 left in the second half when Iowa State turned the ball over in five out of six possessions.

In overtime, the Cyclones coughed up the ball three times, which led to baskets that helped Arizona take the lead or pull away.

Arizona took the Cyclones’ 18 turnovers and converted them into 22 points.

Gilbert accounted for five of those turnovers. Lipsey had four, while Jones committed three. Jefferson and Brandton Chatfield each had two turnovers.

The Cyclones are at their best offensively when they move and take care of the ball and limit turnovers. Two of three Iowa State losses came when they had more turnovers than assists.

They are now 2-2 overall in those situations this season. They squeezed by Texas Tech in overtime and beat Arizona State, despite having more turnovers than assists, but fell to West Virginia and now Arizona.

“I feel like as much as we’re disappointed in the outcome, they deserve a lot of credit,” Otzelberger said. “A lot of respect for coach (Tommy)Lloyd and his program, they got a great team. We’ll be better for it and we’ll move on to the next thing pretty quick.”

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