Iowa State basketball: 3 takeaways from the Cyclones' win over Cincinnati

Iowa State basketball: 3 takeaways from the Cyclones’ win over Cincinnati

Posted by author February 16, 2025 Basketball

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AMES — Iowa State men’s basketball entered the 20-win club by defeating visiting Cincinnati, 81-70, on Saturday.

The Cyclones improved to 20-5 overall and 10-4 in Big 12 play. It is the third 20-win season in head coach T.J. Otzelberger’s four seasons at Ames.

Curtis Jones led the Cyclones with 22 points, including a 12-for-12 showing at the free-throw line. Joshua Jefferson finished with 13 points, seven boards and three steals. Milan Momcilovic had 12 points, including 10 in the second half. Tamin Lipsey had 11 points and four steals. Brandton Chatfield added nine points off the bench, with five offensive rebounds and six total boards.

Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s win:

Iowa State feasts on the glass, inside and at the free-throw line

Rebounding, physicality, and maximum effort − all non-negotiables in Otzelberger’s program.

The Cyclones fulfilled the above criteria in Saturday’s win. Iowa State outrebounded Cincinnati, 37-19. More impressively, with the game tied at the half, the Cyclones emerged out of the break and had a commanding 23-9 rebounding margin over the Bearcats in the final 20 minutes.

They recorded 12 offensive rebounds as a team, which turned into 17 second-chance points. They had 13 second-chance points in the second half.

“They’re very timely, right?” Otzelberger said. “At points in the game, when maybe your offense isn’t flowing quite as well as you’d like, you can turn a negative into a positive quick by tremendous effort on the glass with two hands, getting that rebound and that oftentimes either leads to free throws, a putback or a great shot from three.”

Chatfield had another impactful game off the bench, finishing with a team-high five offensive rebounds. Jefferson and Dishon Jackson had two offensive boards apiece.

Lipsey, Jones and Nate Heise each had an offensive rebound.

It’s all part of a mission to hunt for “hammers” — the term the Cyclones use to refer to getting an offensive rebound and putting it back up. If the hammer isn’t possible, whether they are out of position or heavily contested, then they search for “daggers” — when they kick the offensive rebound out to a teammate at the perimeter for a 3-point shot.

“We’re just relentlessly attacking,” Chatfield said of the Cyclones’ ability on the boards. “We know that it’s really big and we’re really good at it, and just got to keep attacking to get that extra possession and give us that little extra boost that we may need.”

Iowa State also outscored Cincinnati in the paint, 30-18.

In a physical game that saw referees hand out a total of five technical fouls, the free-throw line was a big area for the Cyclones, too.

Cincinnati made it difficult on defense after it settled in following the Cyclones’ game-opening barrage. The Bearcats entered Saturday with the fourth-lowest fouling rate in the country, but the Cyclones got into the bonus early and made sure to capitalize on the opportunity.

Jones shot just 4-of-13 from the field but went 12-for-12 at the line.

As a team, the Cyclones shot 26-of-30 from the charity stripe, good for a new season-high 86.7%.

“It’s something we spend time on and our guys get extra work in as well,” Otzelberger said of foul shots. “It’s a component of winning, especially late in games and late in the season to be able to go to the foul line and convert.”

Iowa State basketball: TJ Otzelberger on technicals in Cincinnati game

Between Iowa State and Cincinnati, both teams were called for a combined five technical fouls. T.J. Otzelberger discusses how it can impact game flow.

Turnovers pile up for Cyclones again

Over the last month, a stretch that includes 10 games dating back to Jan. 15, the Cyclones have seen an uptick in turnovers.

There was hope that with Momcilovic back from injury, it would help with spacing and minimize turnovers − and there have certainly been glimpses of that. However, the rising turnover issues continue to persist for Iowa State.

The Cyclones are averaging 15.1 turnovers over that 10-game span.

They recorded 15 or more turnovers for the fourth time in their last six games Saturday. Their 18 turnovers tied season-highs that were also met in losses to Arizona and Kansas State.

In the first 15 games of the season, they were giving up only 8.9 turnovers per game.

Some of it is overzealous dribbling. It could also be attributed to Cincinnati’s defense-first mindset that thrives at generating turnovers.

Fortunately for the Cyclones, they were able to soften the damage and get back in transition defense, holding Cincinnati to just 13 points off turnovers.

Otzelberger and his team are trying to fix the issues, but he did have some thoughts on the cause after Saturday’s game.

“Their on-ball defense and disruptiveness − the same way we try to be disruptive, they do too − and you can’t get caught over-dribbling because that allows that pressure,” Otzelberger said. “We just got to do a better job of making simple plays. Sometimes, we’re trying to almost be stubborn, like this guy is kind of fouling me, so I’m going to try and force it through his body and make the ref call it.

“I would bet you that if you just took those 6-7 plays out of it, we’d be in a much better position. It’s something we’re going to address, continue to see it on film, because we can’t have that stubbornness to force an official to make a call.”

Iowa State basketball: TJ Otzelberger on Cyclones’ turnover issues

Iowa State basketball coughed up the ball 18 times in its win over Cincinnati. The Cyclones have had an uptick in turnovers in recent weeks.

Cincinnati’s Jizzle James was impressive

He had been a catalyst in the Bearcats’ recent offensive resurgence.

James averaged 21.3 points and shot 66.7% over their recent three-game winning streak.

The sophomore guard was coming off of a career night against Utah, and he matched that high-scoring night with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting against Iowa State. He also shot 5-for-9 from deep. It didn’t seem to matter who switched onto him, as he making tough shots off the dribble or creating just enough space to get a shot.

Iowa State seemingly pulled away whenever he was on the bench due to foul trouble. He appeared to close the gap whenever the Cyclones had momentum, either sparking a run or answering every big Iowa State bucket.

James eventually fouled out with just under three minutes to go, and it felt like any hopes for a Cincinnati comeback left with him.

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