Iowa State's top shooters hope to heat up in season opener against FDU

AMES — Milan Momcilovic winced as he looked at the stat sheets.

Iowa State’s typically hot shooting 6-foot-7 junior made 0 of his seven 3-point attempts in the exhibition loss to Creighton, and followed that up with a 1-for-7 performance from beyond the arc in the exhibition win over Northwestern.

So what’s his biggest takeaway from a rare lengthy cold-shooting stretch as the No. 16 Cyclones prepare for Monday’s 7 p.m. men’s basketball season opener against Farleigh Dickinson?

“I’m glad it doesn’t count,” said Momcilovic, who shot 40 percent from 3-point range last season. “For me, it’s just more going back to the basics. Holding my follow through a little longer. Getting a little more arc on the ball. I think that will be better for the shots to go in.”

Momcilovic’s being asked to take more difficult shots this season and that likely served as a factor in his frigid performances in the exhibitions. When he’s on, he’s an elite floor spacer — and opposing teams know that, and have adjusted accordingly. So ISU head coach T.J. Otzelberger’s worked with Momcilovic to counter those adjustments, making him a better shooter on the move anywhere on the floor, including in the post.

“I think Milan, his self image as a player, his superpower, is seeing the ball go through the basket, right?” Otzelberger said. “When he scores it, you see the gravity, the energy, the smile, the swagger, all those things. So for him, how he values himself as a player is more along those lines, so we’ve gotta be more intentional to try to create those opportunities for Milan.”

The coaching staff takes a different approach with its best 3-point shooter from a year ago, Nate Heise. The former Northern Iowa star struggled with his confidence for the first time in his career last season, before finishing with a lengthy hot-shooting streak that resurfaced in the exhibition win over the Wildcats. Heise shot 5-for-7 from 3-point range in that game at a two-thirds full Hilton Coliseum and can also drive and finish strong while retaining his bedrock strength as a stern defender.

“Nate’s far more of a mentality (of), ‘I’m gonna fight you every possession on both sides, and as I’m winning that fight, the game will go my way,” Otzelberger said.

Momcilovic isn’t worried that shooting the 3 won’t go his way now that real games are here.

“Just go out there, be loose, have fun, celebrate my teammates and really pour into them,” he said. “And then good things will happen for me.”

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