Freshman Jamarion Batemon helps No. 16 ISU beat Grambling State, 102-62

AMES — Any sense of suspense had long left Hilton Coliseum as Iowa State’s game against Grambling State entered its waning moments.

But one question remained: Would the No. 16 Cyclones eclipse the 100-point mark?

No sweat.

Freshman guard Jamarion Batemon calmly drilled his third 3-pointer with 23 seconds remaining to get his team to triple digits and cap a 102-62 triumph Thursday night that played out before a crowd of 13,609.

“It felt great to kind of get that rhythm going,” said Batemon, who finished with a 11 points to join five other Cyclones in double figures. “My coaches trust me. My teammates trust me. So it felting good to kind of pour that back into them and get some energy going.”

Batemon provided ISU (2-0) with a similar, but more important scoring outburst in the first half. The Cyclones trailed the Tigers, 17-16, with 9:23 left but the 6-3 guard from Milwaukee sank back-to-back 3-pointers within a 30-second span to put the Cyclones in front for good, at 22-17.

“He’s somebody (who) has tremendous habits, and I’ve never experienced somebody (who) has tremendous habits, (who) keeps working the way he does, that it doesn’t come around for him,” ISU head coach T.J. Otzelberger said of Batemon, who is 4-for-10 from 3-point range this season. “His intelligence, his work ethic — he’s got a lot going for him.”

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So does star forward Joshua Jefferson, who led ISU with 20 points and eight rebounds. The 6-9 senior from Las Vegas went 8-for-10 from the field and knocked down a 3-pointer that came off an assist from fellow forward Milan Momcilovic.

“I get him a lot of 3s, so I appreciate he got me one back,” Jefferson said of the play that came after several crisply executed passes darted across the floor. “Just continuing to keep the ball on the move, that’s how we’re good in our harcourt offense, so playing off each other is really good for us.”

All five players on the floor touched the ball on that play, and Momcilovic handled it twice, as his earlier drive into the paint helped free Jefferson up on the perimeter.

“That’s certainly a possession we’ll show tomorrow in terms of trying to create an advantage, or get the defense to collapse and then continue to move the basketball,” Otzelberger said.

The Cyclones outscored the Tigers (1-1) 27-to-12 in points off turnovers and 46-to-26 in points in the paint. They also churned up 17 second-chance points after scoring just three in Monday’s season-opening 88-50 win over Farleigh Dickinson.

“That was the emphasis we’ve been talking about lot about,” Otzelberger said in reference to that latter statistical category. “That’s a big part of our offense. Certainly transition, we want to generate points in transition off our defense, but those second-chance points are huge.”

So was the list of ISU players who scored in Thursday’s blowout win. Thirteen different Cyclones scored least four points and four different guys claimed multiple steals, led by senior point guard Tamin Lipsey, who snared five steals while scoring 10 points, dishing out six assists and grabbing four rebounds.

Lipsey also made some wow-worthy plays on the move, including a fake pass on the fast break that resulted in an easy layup.

“It’s good to have him back out there,” Jefferson said of Lipsey, who missed nearly six weeks of practice and two exhibition games because of an MCL injury. “Happy to see him having fun and being himself.”

Momcilovic scored 11 points, as did freshman guard Killyan Toure, and transfer guard Dominick Nelson notched 10 points. Transfer big man Blake Buchanan added eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.

“It was great that everybody was involved,” Otzelberger said. “It’s great to see Batemon come in in the first half and knock down some big shots. We’re gonna have to continue to count on him moving forward.”

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