No. 23 Iowa State looks to end 2-game skid Saturday against Oklahoma

AMES — Iowa State established itself as a prime Big 12 contender by winning its first two conference road games.

Now the travel-weary and 23rd-ranked Cyclones (17-10, 8-7) seek to solidify themselves in the top half of the men’s basketball conference standings by winning two straight at home, beginning with Saturday’s 11 a.m. matchup with last-place, but dangerous Oklahoma (13-15, 3-12) at Hilton Coliseum.

“We love playing here,” said Ames native and ISU freshman point guard Tamin Lipsey. “It’s hard for opposing teams to come in here and play. It’s a great place, great atmosphere. We wish all of our games were in here.”

That wish, of course, cannot come true, but being able to close out the regular-season slate against the Sooners and West Virginia at home, before traveling to No. 9 Baylor, does give the Cyclones a chance to ensure a top-five finish in league play for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

So winning at Hilton — where ISU is 13-1 this season — stands paramount in terms of entering postseason play with reinvigorated hopes as well as attaining the highest possible seed in the NCAA tournament.

“We take a lot of pride in playing at Hilton,” Lipsey said. “So we’re gonna come out (here) and fans are gonna be on our side.”

The struggling Cyclones will need all the help they can get. They enter Saturday’s game having lost four of five games and will face an Oklahoma team that pummeled second-ranked Alabama, 93-69, last month in a Big 12/SEC Challenge game in Norman, and took league-leading Texas to overtime before falling, 85-83, last Saturday in Austin.

“When they’re a their best, they can really space you offensively with (Tanner) Groves at the five and they turn into the aggression because they’re able to space that court offensively and they don’t turn the basketball over,” Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “I think when they’re having challenges it’s because they’re not spaced as well and they are turning it over more.”

That would seemingly play right into ISU’s hands and it certainly did in Norman. The Cyclones notched their first conference road win of the season at Oklahoma by forcing 13 turnovers and dictating tempo in a 63-60 triumph. ISU is ranked second nationally in opponent turnover percentage (25.2), according to KenPom, but has committed more turnovers that its foes in four of the past five games.

“When we turn the ball over more, it’s usually the result of other teams pressuring us, picking up more full court, or extending their pressure in the half court,” Otzelberger said. “It’s also the result of guys like Tamin and (fellow guard) Jaren (Holmes) having to play 36, 37 minutes, which is probably not ideal.”

But anything resembling “ideal” is moot now that March is a mere few days away. No one’s 100 percent. Everyone’s bruised and battered — including ISU, which may or may not be without guard Caleb Grill for the third straight game because of ongoing back issues.

“Everyone’s tired, everyone’s fatigued,” Lipsey said. “But that’s every team in the league because every night’s a battle.”

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