No. 3 Iowa State men’s basketball staying ‘hungry’ and ‘humble’

AMES — The guy affectionately known as “Big Dawg” won’t allow himself to have a big head.

Why?

Dishon Jackson’s goals for his relatively recently joined Iowa State men’s basketball team are so lofty that nothing is remotely good enough — until late March or early April, at least.

“I’m gonna be honest,” the twice-transferred 6-foot-11, 274-pound big man from Oakland said in advance of the third-ranked Cyclones’ Big 12 matchup with Utah (8-5, 0-2) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Hilton Coliseum. “I don’t even think we’ve played our best basketball collectively yet. We saw peeks of what we can do versus (No. 2) Auburn (in Maui) and versus Baylor (last Saturday).

“But I think we still had some slippage where we could be much better, like on the defensive lapses (and) on offensive execution. So I still feel like we have levels that we can reach that we haven’t even touched yet.”

In other words, ISU (12-1, 2-0) hasn’t arrived.

The Cyclones haven’t provided anything beyond glimpses of how good they can become as they tread into the teeth of the 20-game Big 12 schedule with sights set on a first NCAA tournament Final Four appearance in the modern era. Jackson knows the best must be yet to come if ISU’s to ascend to new heights — and is toiling each day accordingly to help make that happen.

“We look for guys that are self-aware, that are hungry, humble,” said Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger, who’s led his team to the Sweet 16 in two of his three seasons. “They want to continue to get better. They have goals to continue to play basketball after college, and I feel what we’ve been able to do is bring guys in as transfers that have come in and shown that (they) can do even better maybe here than they did at their last place, and do that against better competition and many times in high magnitude games, where the stakes really matter.”

ISU boasts more quad one wins (three) than any other conference rival. The Utes have lost three games in a row and are currently residing in quad three territory, but that doesn’t mean they won’t pose a significant threat. Forward Gabe Madsen leads four Utah players averaging double figures in scoring at 16.5 points per game, and anything short of ISU’s best effort to date could lead to a tight game.

“They’re great in transition,” Otzelberger said. “They really shoot the 3 well. They’ve got a lot of guys that they can play and kind of plug and play, which I think stands out about their team. And then defensively, they try to do a really good job of keeping you out of the paint.”

The Cyclones have thrived in that area — whether it be guards such as Keshon Gilbert slashing to the basket, or post players like Jackson deftly scoring at the rim. He’s shooting a career-best 64.5 percent from the field while averaging 10.3 points and 5.6 rebounds in 18.8 minutes of action per game, and his blocked shot and steals numbers are at or near career-high levels.

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“I think every coach I’ve had wanted me to be a good player,” said Jackson, who began his career with fellow ISU forward Brandton Chatfield at Washington State before journeying through Charlotte. “But here, they’ve kind of pushed me a little more to the limit. They believe that I can do something that I don’t think a lot of bigs here have done.

“They want me to come out and just be the best me every day, regardless of if it’s a quote, unquote ‘big game,’ or ‘small game.’ So they hold me to a higher standard.”

That’s why Jackson and his teammates hold themselves to even loftier standards — and why what’s been accomplished so far pales in comparison to what they’re convinced they can achieve as bigger games swing into view.

“We come into practice every day like we’re unranked, and like everybody’s still doubting us,” Jackson said. “So I think we won’t ever get big-headed, or un-humble ourselves.”

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