There was some rust and erratic play that didn’t make for his cleanest game, as he finished with six points, three boards, two assists, two steals and an alarming seven turnovers, but there was certainly a difference in the way the Cyclones flowed on Saturday night.

It certainly helps when shooting a blistering 11-of-21 (52.4%) from deep and 50.0% overall, and when you build a double-digit lead going into the break. Aside from that, the defensive effort was good overall until the Wildcats’ late push, but the Cyclones limited Arizona to shooting 33.3% overall and 4-of-22 (18.2%) from deep.

Iowa State trimmed down its turnovers to 16, after committing 18 against Arizona. However, when you take out Gilbert’s seven turnovers, the Cyclones only had nine giveaways, which is pretty good for the rest of the team overall.

Iowa State is now 19-1 when all players in its primary eight-man rotation are available. That lone loss came on a last-second tip-in against Auburn, who has had a stronghold in the top five national rankings and remains the No. 1-ranked team. The Cyclones are 3-6 when missing even a single piece of their go-to players.

There was a bit of a scare in the second half as Momcilovic took a blow to the face and sustained a bloody nose. Momcilovic entered the locker room for a brief moment after the bleeding was under control and mopped off the court, but he quickly returned to action minutes after. According to him, he is OK, so no injury scare to worry about.

T.J. Otzelberger elaborated and gave his point of view as for why there is such a drastic difference when at full-strength or even missing a single player.

“When the eight guys are all at full-strength, everybody knows exactly what their job is, how it fits together and there’s a trust that they have built amongst them that way,” Otzelberger said. “With our team, certainly Demarion Watson has given us some valuable minutes and done some great things for us as well, so we’re not afraid to go to him as well. … More than anything, offensively, it just clicks. Everybody knows where everybody is, what everybody needs to do, and I think when you take one of those really good plays off the court, it just adds more responsibility to somebody else.

“It doesn’t mean our guys can’t step up, it just means we have a really great thing going when all eight of those guys are out there, competing the way they did tonight.”

Iowa State basketball: TJ Otzelberger on Cyclones bench vs. Arizona

Iowa State’s bench of Brandt Chatfield, Nate Heise and Curtis Jones gave some quality minutes in their win over Arizona.

Iowa State bench packed a punch in the Cyclones’ win

All three players who came off the bench for the Cyclones provided big spurts at various points of the game.

Chatfield was big early on, when he had a dunk, block and a tip-in all in less than one minute to help energize the Hilton Coliseum crowd and jumpstart the Cyclones to put them in front after missing their first four shots of the game. His physical presence was also key, as he finished with eight boards, including three offensive rebounds.

“Of everybody that played the game tonight, Brandt, was the most physical guy on the interior, on the glass, rolling into the rim, jump-ball at the rim, and so as a result, he ends up with 10 (points) and eight (rebounds), but his impact on the game was far greater than that,” Otzelberger said.

Heise is continuing to hit his stride. He scored in double figures for the fourth straight game and had a few hustle plays on both ends of the court. Over the last four games, he is shooting 17-of-26 (65.4%). He had 12 points, four rebounds, two steals, one assist and sank a couple of threes during the 3-point barrage.

“Nate has really stepped up for us over the last few weeks,” Otzelberger said. “He’s been a huge bright spot as he’s got more opportunity. He’s stepped up and really risen to the occasion.”

Jones didn’t force any shots and didn’t attempt a single 3-pointer until the 9:46 mark of the second half, despite that, the Cyclones had a 20-point lead at that point. He made baskets late and converted at the free-throw line to ward off the Wildcats’ late push that cut the margin down to nine.

“Just really solid and commanded when his opportunity came from three,” Otzelberger said. “They really tried to take it away from him. That opened up the court for others and then when his presented itself, he knocked it down.”

Iowa State basketball: Milan Momcilovic on regrouping against Arizona

Iowa State basketball’s Milan Momcilovic discusses the “wake-up call” the Cyclones received after losing to Oklahoma State earlier in the week.

Cyclones return to form defensively

Outside of a late run for the Wildcats, which arguably could be more so of an offensive lull that spanned more than six minutes and allowed Arizona to cut it down to nine points, the Cyclones were playing with great intent defensively.

According to KenPom, Arizona entered No. 18 in the nation for offensive efficiency. The Wildcats couldn’t really get into a groove.

Leading scorer Caleb Love, who had 22 points and late-game heroics in the previous meeting with the Cyclones, was held to just 10 points on 2-of-15 shooting. He shot 2-for-10 from deep, but he entered Saturday’s contest hot. Love had back-to-back 20-point games while shooting 10-for-21 (47.6%) from deep.

Arizona might not be a great three-point shooting team, better known for its scoring at the basket or by getting to the free-throw line, but the Cyclones held the Wildcats to shooting 15-of-35 (42.9%), approximately 13% lower than their season mark of 55.4% heading into Saturday’s game.

Arizona had the second-lowest showing performance of the season, only behind the Cyclones’ win over Baylor.

Iowa State also recorded 14 turnovers and converted them to more points off turnovers (19) despite having two more giveaways than Arizona.

“Our guys did a really good job with the intention of keeping it out of the paint, so I’m sure it’s frustrating to not have the driving lanes they wanted,” Otzelberger said. “… When we defend the way that we practice in terms of rotating over early, it’s not as easy as just getting a back cut and a layup, because that second defender is waiting for you at the rim. I felt like early in the half, for sure the first 10 minutes of the game, then the first 8-10 minutes in the second half, we were in front of all those plays and our guys were connected.”

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