‘Super-connected’ Iowa State men’s basketball team hopes to improve on offense against Milwaukee

AMES — Confidence.

That’s the main area of Iowa State big man Robert Jones’ game he believes he’s improved the most — and it’s shown through two games this season.

“I feel like that goes into both shooting the ball and scoring the ball,” said Jones, who hopes to continue boosting the Cyclones (2-0) off the bench in Sunday’s 5 p.m. matchup with Milwaukee at Hilton Coliseum (ESPN+). “But also just like leading defensively and talking on defense and offense. Making sure everybody’s uplifted and doing the right jobs every time on the court.”

ISU’s been solid on both ends of the floor in blowout wins over IUPUI and North Carolina A&T. But these are obviously not juggernaut programs — not even close. IUPUI is dead last in the KenPom rankings and North Carolina A&T is 291st. Milwaukee (2-1) is ranked 329th, so the Cyclones should get an opportunity to work on themselves again before the level of competition ratchets up immensely Thursday when they face Villanova in the Phil Knight Invitational at Eugene, Ore.

“This week of practice for us is really important,” ISU head coach T.J. Otzelberger said on Thursday. “Trying to work on a lot of different things. I feel like defensively we’re very connected and trying to have that same level of connection offensively.”

Four different Cyclones, led by St. Bonaventure graduate transfer guard Jaren Holmes, are averaging at least 11.5 points per game.

Jones has helped ISU’s second-team rotation shine on defense while providing efficient production on offense. The 6-10, 250-pound senior is 5-for-7 from the field, hasn’t missed a free throw, and is tied for third on the team with three steals.

“We’re super-connected this year,” Jones said. “I feel like there’s an opportunity to be even better than we were last year, just in terms of how connected we are and that carries over to our defensive rotations, and talking, communicating to each other. Not wanting to see somebody get stuck on a screen. So that communication piece is really high on this team.”

Last season, of course, the Cyclones constructed one of the biggest comeback seasons in NCAA history, going from 2-22 to a berth in the Sweet 16.

But Otzelberger has repeatedly stressed that what happened in the past stays in the past. He won’t talk about it. His focus is the present and immediate future — and it’s a confident, details-driven approach that’s proven to be successful so far.

“On the defensive side, we have an intent, we have a mindset and we have a mentality,” Otzelberger said. “We’re going to start doing a better job of carrying it over offensively.”

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