No. 3 Iowa State hopes to tap its energy reserves Wednesday at Baylor

AMES — When Iowa State head men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger compared freshman guard Jamarion Batemon’s energy to former Cyclone star Tyrus McGee, longtime fans knew it amounted to high praise.

As for Batemon?

“Uh, I don’t know who (that) is, but if T.J. compared me to him, I know it’s a good thing,” said Batemon, who nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to kickstart a strong finish in No. 3 ISU’s 80-58 win Friday over West Virginia at Hilton Coliseum.

Next up for the Cyclones (14-0, 1-0): The always dangerous Baylor Bears (10-3, 0-1) at 7 p.m. Wednesday (Peacock) in Waco, Texas.

Baylor lost its Big 12 opener, 69-63, at TCU but ranks among the nation’s elite both in adjusted offensive efficiency (12th in KenPom), and offensive rebounding (fourth in KenPom). The Bears also recently acquired seven-footer and 2023 NBA Draft pick James Nnaji, who scored five points, grabbed four rebounds and lost two turnovers while almost fouling out in his 16-minute Baylor debut against the Horned Frogs.

“They’re a team, offensively, (that’s) really hard to account for,” said Otzelberger, whose team seeks its first 15-0 start in program history. “They’ve got a lot of weapons, and then probably more than anything, they’re an elite, elite offensive rebounding team. They’re always known for going with tremendous effort with their bigs, but now they’ve got guards and big wings (who) are attacking the boards.”

In short, winning in Waco will be a tall task — even though the Cyclones have one two straight there. ISU lost eight in a row at Baylor directly preceding that string of recent success and will face just its second true road test of the season.

“It’s really important that you pour into one another, because you have that feeling when you’re on the road that it’s your group against everybody else,” said Otzelberger, whose team notched perhaps the most impressive road win of the season when it beat No. 5 Purdue, 81-58, on Dec. 6 at Mackey Arena. “You’re playing against all these other potential distractions, and what your job is, is to keep focused on giving your best effort and energy each possession.”

That’s where Batemon comes in — just not on each possession. Cyclone headliners such as forward Joshua Jefferson (coming off his first career triple-double), point guard Tamin Lipsey (ISU’s all-time steals leader), and forward Milan Momcilovic (the nation’s leading 3-point shooter at 56.3 percent) rightly stand atop opposing teams’ scouting reports, but failing to account for Batemon’s explosiveness off the bench is ill-advised.

The 6-3 freshman from Milwaukee’s played between four and 28 minutes in the Cyclones’ first 14 games, but already owns a seven 3-pointer game and is coming off a 3-for-3 performance from beyond the arc in the win over the Mountaineers. He plays with speed, poise and power on both ends of the floor and provides instant and amped-up energy on a frequent basis.

“I’m a competitor,” said Batemon, who’s shooting 45 percent from 3-point range. “So knowing how important a spark is like that, and knowing how much that contributes to winning, I definitely want to keep doing that and I take pride in doing that.”

Hence the comparison to McGee, who starred off the bench for ISU in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons as Otzelberger served as an assistant to Fred Hoiberg.

“It’s high praise,” Otzelberger said, “because I hold Tyrus in very high regard.”

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