Milan Momcilovic breaks single-season 3-point record as No. 4 Iowa State cruises past Utah

Editors note: This story was written in Iowa.

Milan Momcilovic made four 3-pointers Tuesday at Utah.

Two of them etched the slick-shooting junior forward’s name into Iowa State’s record book.

Momcilovic matched, then passed the late former Cyclone great Dedric Willoughby for made 3s in a single season during his team's workmanlike 75-59 win over the Utes Tuesday in Salt Lake City.

And, as usual, Momcilovic’s 4-for-8 performance from beyond the arc brought his long-range shooting percentage down slightly, but he’ll take it, as ISU (24-4, 11-4 Big 12) pulled into a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings.

“It’s a pretty cool accomplishment,” said Momcilovic, who now has 104 3s this season compared to the 102 Willoughby made in 1997. “I think just being here three years now, putting the work in, growing up, maturing — it’s a cool accomplishment. Just glad my teammates keep looking for me and it’s really their success, too.”

The Cyclones maintained a minimum of two possessions of separation between them and the last-place Utes (10-18, 2-13) after striking for a 12-0 run capped by backup freshman guard Jamarion Batemon’s steal and dunk with 2:15 remaining in the first half. That put ISU up 10, at 39-29, and Utah never seriously threatened to take the lead again.

“I thought Batemon came in right away and was in gaps and getting steals for us and getting going as well,” said Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger, whose team rebounded from a 10-point loss at No. 19 BYU. “So I think across the board, our guys took a lot of pride in guarding the basketball and making sure that we continued to be disruptive throughout the course of the game.”

Star forward Joshua Jefferson led the Cyclones with 21 points and also grabbed a team-best six rebounds. Momcilovic scored 14 points and Batemon added 13 as ISU outscored the Utes, 20-to-9 in points off turnovers.

All eight of the Cyclones who logged minutes scored, and five different players collected two steals apiece — Jefferson, Batemon, Tamin Lipsey, Nate Heise and Blake Buchanan.

“I think that program pride, their work habits, their character, they deserve so much credit for what they’re doing every single day,” Otzelberger said. “We’re really proud of them.”

Jefferson scored 20-plus points for the first time since the Jan. 24 win at Oklahoma State, but has scored in double figures in each game this season while recording two triple-doubles.

“It started in practice,” Jefferson said. “We had two really good practices (after the BYU loss), and just for me, needing to assert myself, really, I feel like I (haven’t) been up to my standard where it needs to be, so tonight was good for everybody involved.”

Especially Momcilovic, who drained as many as four 3-pointers in a single game for the 11th time this season.

“We all have tremendous confidence in him because we see how he works for it and earns it,” Otzelberger said. “So I’m really proud of him. It’s cool when you recruit somebody and you believe in them to the extent that we’ve believed in him and he continues to do special things.”

Next up: No. 12 Texas Tech on Saturday at Hilton Coliseum.

“When you get to mid February or late February, especially coming off a loss, you learn a lot about the character in your group,” Otzelberger said. “Our guys really dug in.”

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