Cyclones rebound from recent funk, and rebound like wild in win over Cincinnati

AMES --- These are the dog days of mid-February in college basketball, when the season feels long and tempers are short.

Pressures mount. If it feels like you just got home from Orlando or Oklahoma, you probably did. Rare are the teams who go through an entire season without hitting a sustained funk.

For every club secure in knowing they’re headed to the NCAA tournament, there are more clinging to the bubble by their thumbnails or who are trying to get on the right side of bracketology.

Cincinnati came to Hilton Coliseum Saturday with three straight Big 12 wins of 10 points or more. A team that was in the AP preseason Top 25 had looked like a goner at 2-8 in the conference. Suddenly, it could start talking about what it needed to do to get into the big tournament.

The Bearcats had a big opportunity Saturday against the 10th-ranked Cyclones, coming off two consecutive double-digit wins of their own after falling in three straight games. It was a skid that began when Arizona’s Caleb Love made a half-court shot at the end of regulation to force overtime, and the Wildcats went on to beat then-No. 3 Iowa State.

You lose a game that way, you can’t help but wonder which basketball deity you angered. It was followed by the nearly unthinkable in the Cyclones’ fortress, a 19-point home loss to Kansas State. Then came a 17-point defeat at Kansas.

It was no coincidence the tailspin occurred with starting forward Milan Momcilovic out after surgery to his left hand. Besides averaging 10 points, Momcilovic’s threat as a perimeter shooter opens the court for his teammates. Things got tighter without him, fast.

Momcilovic had 12 points Saturday in Iowa State’s 81-70 win, a game that was tied at halftime. The Cyclones hated the first-half officiating. Coach T.J. Otzelberger had a long talk with an official before he finished his walk back to the dressing room at the break.

Then, Cincinnati really hated the second-half officiating. Bearcats Coach Wes Miller got a technical foul with 6:55 left and his team down 63-59. Curtis Jones — who was 12-of-12 from the line — made the two free throws off the technical, and Momcilovic canned a 3-pointer off a Jones feed for a 5-point possession.

“That’s five points that — I don’t want to say we got given — but we’ll take,” said Jones, who was his usual microwave self with 22 points.

Iowa State was on its way to its 20th win, and 10th against four Big 12 losses.

The Cyclones made 18 turnovers and yet won. Shooting 30 free throws to your opponent’s 11 seldom fails to point you to victory. Ditto outrebounding your foe 23-9 in the second half. Sub Brandton Chatfield had five offensive boards, three that produced second-chance baskets.

“Brandt is an everyday guy,” Iowa State Coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “He’s a workhorse.

“When he scores, it’s like such an uplifting feeling for our team because they respect how he does those effort-based things well.”

After a first-half of looking a bit on their heels for stretches, the Cyclones were the aggressors.

“We take a lot of pride in controlling the paint, foul line, and on the glass,” Otzelberger said.

That’ll work.

It’s safe to say no one in the nation is playing better with a broken thumb than junior Cyclone guard Tamin Lipsey, who had four steals. That gives him 222 in his career, three behind Monte Morris’ school record. Morris played 140 games. this was Lipsey’s 94th.

Thursday, Otzelberger gave reporters an 8-minute, 13-second monologue citing things he appreciated about his players, naming each of them. Here’s what he said about Lipsey:

“What he's been playing through is nothing short of heroic. He's literally the greatest winner I've ever been around. The guy has a broken thumb, practices hard every day, competes hard every game, and actually is hunting his three more and shooting it better because of his mental toughness.

“Let’s never take that for granted.”

This is a 20-5 team. It was seeded No. 9 overall Saturday in the NCAA tournament selection committee’s preliminary rankings.

It’s unlikely anyone around here is taking that for granted.

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