No. 8 Iowa State men seek fourth straight win Sunday at struggling Kansas State

AMES — Forty.

That’s how many points the No. 8 Iowa State men enjoyed from their bench in their second straight 30-point home win on Thursday over Colorado.

It’s also a Big 12 season-high number for the Cyclones’ reserves — and they hope it’s a harbinger of what’s to come.

“It feels good to know that not only the five players (who) start a game are pretty good, but the guys who come from the bench also have an instant impact,” said backup freshman big man Dominykas Pleta, who tied a career-high with 12 points and grabbed a career-best six rebounds in Thursday’s 97-67 win over the Buffaloes.

Next up for ISU (19-2, 6-2 Big 12): A road date with nosediving Kansas State (10-11, 1-7) at 1 p.m. Sunday (FOX) at Bramlage Coliseum.

And a fourth straight win would be more than “pretty good” for a Cyclone team that’s climbed back into a tie for third place in the conference standings. ISU’s completely shaken off the ghosts attached to a two-game road skid that preceded its three straight wins by an average of 24.3 points, and a recommitment to its toughness-based daily habits explains why.

“Our practice habits have been carrying over to the games,” Cyclone head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “So now the challenge (resides) in staying in that same mental place, bringing that same effort and energy in practice, and then being very headstrong that the things you do in practice are gonna carry over to the games.”

As Otzelberger noted, that carry-over has been rekindled for all of this players, but especially for the bench denizens. Backup freshman guard Jamarion Batemon led ISU with 17 points on Thursday. Pleta enjoyed a career night. And defensive captain Nate Heise totaled eight points, eight rebounds and four assists.

“I thought (he) had the best game he’s had in a while,” Otzelberger said of Heise. “(It’s) great when you go to the bench and you feel like (Thursday), in some respects, we got better. Those guys had instant production, so it’s great to see.”

Batemon, in particular, has provided that immediate energy and production the Cyclones need. The 6-3 catalyst from Milwaukee has scored in double-figures in three of the past five games despite playing between seven and 20 minutes in each of those contests.

“Whenever I go in there (and) however long, I’ve just got to do the best I can to impact winning, because that’s the ultimate goal,” Batemon said.

Batemon, Otzelberger has said repeatedly, embodies that positive practice-to-game habit translation better than any freshman he’s been around. And he displayed that last week, as well, going from not scoring in last Saturday’s win at Oklahoma State to the 17-point performance he crafted on Thursday.

“I don’t think I’ve seen anyone have a better response than what Jamarion Batemon did from his performance (at Oklahoma State),” Otzelberger said. “It was’t in the game (Thursday), It was when we got back (late last) Saturday, it was Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon, on and on all week long. … How much he wants to play for our program and team is great.”

So whether its frontline star such as Joshua Jefferson, Milan Momcilovic or Tamin Lipsey, or a spark from the sideline such as Batemon, Pleta and Heise, ISU’s formula for success remains the same.

“If we just keep our focus where it needs to be, we know in the long haul things are gonna go our way,” Otzelberger said.

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