End of a pothole-filled road for a Cyclones season that once had great expectations

MILWAUKEE — On Jan. 15, the Iowa State men’s basketball team was 15-1 overall, 5-0 in the Big 12, and had a No. 2 national ranking that was the highest in program history.

More than a few prominent national basketball commentators said the Cyclones were among the top candidates to win the national championship.

The Cyclones were No. 5 in the AP preseason Top 25 for reasons. They had three terrific returning guards in Keshon Gilbert, Curtis Jones and Tamin Lipsey. They had the defense, they had the grit. They had a new frontcourt player who could score and do much more in Joshua Jefferson.

But while some teams keep progressing, others stall out. It’s a really long season, things happen, and many clubs can’t flick adversity off their shoulders.

Last year’s Iowa State team played its best in February and March, and the road didn’t end until the Sweet 16. A No. 8 ranking was the Cyclones’ in the end-of-season AP Top.

Their final ranking won’t be as lofty this year. As their 91-78 second-round loss to Mississippi on Sunday night at Fiserv Forum got older, the distance from here to the Sweet 16 in Atlanta felt far greater than 773 miles.

This would have been an ugly way to end any season, let alone one with big expectations. The Cyclones trailed the Rebels by as much as 26 points after pulling within seven in the second half’s first minute.

The shooting wasn’t there, the defense wasn’t there, the ball-protection wasn’t there, and the zing wasn’t there. Iowa State didn’t resemble a club that went 13-7 in the rugged Big 12.

Nor had it, for a while. The Cyclones went a pedestrian 10-9 after getting that No. 2 ranking. There were some bad losses that began with forward Milan Momcilovic missing seven games with a broken hand.

The team seemed star-crossed, with its stars crossed up by injuries. The offense staggered in Momcilovic’s absence. He came back and was very good, but Gilbert suffered a groin injury a month ago and was never the same player Iowa State got so used to enjoying.

Leading scorer Jones couldn’t play at Houston on Feb. 22 due to illness. Lipsey had a lower-body injury in the Cyclones’ Big 12 tourney opener and couldn’t play against BYU the next day, nor was he in ideal shape here.

“A lot of adversity, perseverance, and just fighting ’til the end,” Jefferson said, describing the season after the game. “I think we dealt with a lot this year with people being in and out of different lineups.”

“It just seems like we couldn’t get healthy,” Jones said. “It’s like that sometimes. The season isn’t going to go perfect.”

Sunday, excuses didn’t matter. The Cyclones got smoked.

“Tonight wasn't our best, but it also doesn't define us,” Cyclones Coach T.J. Otzelberger said.

“To start the season, the expectations and the ranking that we had all year long, there was a higher magnitude with every game that we played.

“I look at the entire season and say, you know, you start the year preseason sixth (in the coaches poll), you win 25 games, you finish in the top five of the league. There's a lot of great things our guys accomplished, being a top-3 seed (in the NCAA tourney) again.”

It was a very good season with a lot of highlights. If it hadn’t come with great expectations attached, it would feel even better today. Such is sports, and life.

The good news for Iowa State is that Otzelberger’s streak of taking its teams to the NCAA tournament is likely to grow to five in five years next March. As of Monday’s opening of the NCAA transfer portal to all players, Otzelberger has five rotation players returning, including Lipsey, Jefferson and Momcilovic.

He also has a recruiting class of five that was ranked in the nation’s Top 20 before 6-foot-10, 225-pound forward Dominykas Pleta of Germany committed last month.

Plus, you know Otzelberger’s staff will again do what they do so well, which is spot and sign guys from the portal that fit the Cyclones so well.

Iowa State isn’t going any further in this postseason, but it isn’t going away.

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