LAS VEGAS — Iowa State basketball cruised to victory during its first four wins to start the season, but the Cyclones came ready for a war in Las Vegas.
The Cyclones downed their first ranked foe of the season in a back-and-forth thriller that came down to the final seconds. In the end, the Cyclones held on for an 83-82 win over St. John’s on the first day of the Players Era Festival at Michelob Ultra Arena on Nov. 24.
Oziyah Sellers drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to give St. John’s an 80-79 lead with 2:09 remaining.
Amid St. John’s celebrating after reclaiming the lead, Iowa State star Tamin Lipsey went down with lower-body injury and did not return to the game. He briefly walked toward the locker room before returning to the bench for the last half-minute of the game.
Milan Momcilovic drove inside and finished at the basket to regain the lead for Iowa State. After a couple of key defensive stops, Joshua Jefferson added two free throws to pad the Cyclone lead with 9.4 seconds remaining.
St. John’s opt to not take a timeout, and the ball found its way to Zuby Ejiofor, whose game-tying 3-point attempt fell short. Dillon Mitchell got a meaningless layup to drop as time expired.
Iowa State led by 10 points early in the first half, but St. John’s battled back to take a 45-43 halftime lead.
Momcilovic led the Cyclones with 23 points. He shot 5-of-9 from long range. Jefferson had 17 points, eight boards and a block. Lipsey had 16 points, five assists and one steal before sustaining the injury. Blake Buchanan and Nate Heise each had seven points and four rebounds.
For St. John’s, Sellers had 20 points and shot 5-of-6 from deep. Bryce Hopkins added 16 points and seven boards. Ejiofor had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Mitchell had 12 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey needs further evaluation, Cyclones step up and finish in his absence
Cyclones coach T.J. Otzelberger said during postgame interviews that it was too early to determine the full extent and severity of Lipsey’s injury. Otzelberger said Lipsey was day-to-day.
“In regards to Lipsey, we’re still evaluating,” he said. “Training staff, medical staff just told us it’s going to be a day to day, lower-body extremity, so I don’t have great detail on it. We haven’t had time to really, truly evaluate him, so we’ll get back to the hotel, check him out and see what that means.”
Lipsey didn’t have his most efficient outing, shooting 5-of-17, but it was still a solid showing for him and his ability to control the flow of the game was apparent. He had 16 points, five assists, a steal and only one turnover.
Momentum was surging the Red Storm’s way, especially as Sellers’ back-to-back 3-pointers put St. John’s back in front and Lipsey was forced to leave the game with 2:09 left.
Iowa State was able to settle in. Momcilovic got a basket once play resumed to regain the lead.
From there, Iowa State was able to close the game behind a tough defensive and rebounding effort, and it did so without its five-star floor general. St. John’s didn’t hit any other shots until a meaningless layup at the buzzer.
“That’s our guy, he runs the team, so obviously it’s disappointing to see him go down,” Momcilovic said. “But we have the next-player-step-up mentality. We knew we needed to win that game, so we forget about it and then just go win the game, but obviously it’s tough to see our leader go down like that.”
Game was won on the glass, rebounding was essential
Against St. John’s vaunted frontcourt of Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins, physicality and rebounding were major points of emphasis for the Cyclones.
Coming down the stretch, second-chance opportunities, the ability to earn extra possessions and get key defensive rebounds were crucial to the winning effort.
Iowa State finished with 17 offensive rebounds, which led to 22 second-chance points. Overall, the Cyclones outrebounded the Red Storm, 38-36.
“We knew coming in, it was going to be a highly physical game,” Otzelberger said. “Felt like at halftime, we really needed to lock in and generate more turnovers off our defense. We were able to do that right away to start the second half, which I think changed the momentum of the game in our favor and then did it again late on the offensive glass.
“We had some big offensive rebounds. For us to have 17 offensive rebounds against a team with their physicality, we knew we’d have to work really hard, so I think those two areas allowed us to get the possessions we needed to be successful.”
Before Sellers’ back-to-back 3-pointers to temporarily snatch the lead for the Red Storm with 2:09 remaining, St. John’s previously led with just more than six minutes to go.
The Cyclones tied it at 72 with 6:01 left on a putback layup by Blake Buchanan. Iowa State’s next three baskets in crunch time came on second-chance points.
On the other end of the court, the Cyclones limited the Red Storm to only one second-chance basket over the final seven minutes, and that lone score off an offensive rebound came on the meaningless last-second layup.
“I felt we were the more physical team on the interior,” Otzelberger said. “Those are huge credits to all of our guys.”
Gutsy performances, moments all throughout the Iowa State lineup
There were various gutsy performances by Iowa State players, and role players who entered the game did a good job of delivering key plays and filling voids on the floor.
Milan Momcilovic was an offensive spark with his game-high 23 points. He shot 8-of-13 and 5-for-9 from deep. St. John’s initially keyed in on him heavily and tried to deny him, but he was able to create space and made sure to punish the Red Storm whenever he was able to get space.
Joshua Jefferson had another strong all-around game and played stretches at the center spot, a role that he did in small-ball lineups last season, but served as the 4 in every minute of Iowa State’s first four games. He hit key shots, made good defensive plays, and he was a strong rebounder. Jefferson also hit the necessary free throws to help secure the win with 9.4 seconds left.
Blake Buchanan dealt with foul trouble throughout the game, but his rebounding and defense were clutch down the stretch. Despite having four fouls, he was able to stay on the floor, play aggressively and assertively, and he remained effective as a rim protector. His presence was needed to pull away and close the game.
Killyan Toure also had four fouls, but was a great complementary piece when he was on the court, and he took over at point guard when Lipsey had to leave the game.
Nate Heise had 25 quality, tough minutes off the bench. Dominykas Pleta stepped up and gave a season-high 12 minutes with Iowa State’s frontcourt dealing with foul trouble. He had three rebounds, including two on the offensive glass.
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Three takeaways from Iowa State basketball’s win over St. John’s
Reporting by Eugene Rapay, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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