Iowa State begins the Big 12 men’s basketball tournament Thursday as rested and recuperated as possible in the thick of March. And once that bell rings for the first of potentially three straight games in as many days, the Cyclones will lean on what got them here: A grit-based, no-surrender approach that serves as their competitive foundation.
Iowa State entered Saturday’s Big 12 regular-season finale at Kansas State clinging to hopes of sharing the league title for the first time since 2000-01. Instead, the sixth-ranked Cyclones fell, 65-58, while suffering just their second loss in the past 10 games.
Curtis Jones scored a Big 12-season-high 18 points in Iowa State’s comeback win over BYU — and on Saturday he’ll face the first conference foe he accomplished that feat against when the Cyclones face Kansas State.
Iowa State point guard Tamin Lipsey notched his best game of the Big 12 season in Wednesday’s pulse-pounding 68-63 comeback win over No. 20 BYU on senior night at Hilton Coliseum.
Sixth-ranked Iowa State came from 14 points down to silence No. 20 BYU down the stretch and seal an 18-0 home record in its Hilton Coliseum season finale.
Iowa State senior forward Robert Jones became one of the first players to transfer into then-first-year coach T.J. Otzelberger’s men’s basketball program for one overarching reason: “I always wanted to change a culture.”
Iowa State’s latest comeback started where it usually does. With a stop. That small spark — rooted in a simple stop — led to a decisive 11-0 run that propelled ISU to a gritty 60-52 triumph over Central Florida at Addition Financial Arena.
Tamin Lipsey snared two critical steals while shooting 2-for-13 from the field in Iowa State’s win over Oklahoma. His ability to help his team navigate the season’s highs and lows is a big reason why the No. 8 Cyclones sit one game behind top-ranked Houston in the conference standings.
On a night where Iowa State looked out of sorts offensively in myriad ways, Demarion Watson delivered countless times to help the Cyclones eventually surge to a 58-45 triumph over Oklahoma before a sold-out crowd of 14,267 at Hilton Coliseum.
Jackson Paveletzke’s role for No. 8 Iowa State keeps expanding as his team prepares to take on Oklahoma in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. Big 12 men’s basketball game at Hilton Coliseum. He notched conference season highs in minutes (16) and points (9) in ISU’s most recent win over West Virginia and his chip-on-his-shoulder approach to the game is shared by most of his teammates.
Every basket counted as No. 6 Iowa State needed a late 14-0 surge to eventually secure a 71-64 triumph over last-place West Virginia before 14,267 fans at Hilton Coliseum.
He’s versatile. He’s disciplined. And, oh, he can shoot it. All of the above words aptly describe Iowa State senior guard Curtis Jones, but his off-the-bench production pales in comparison to his most valuable attribute: poise.
Iowa State matched Houston’s toughness on ESPN’s Big Monday. The No. 6 Cyclones even made an array of clutch shots against the No. 2 Cougars. But falling behind by 13 points early put ISU in a hole it could never climb out of Monday in a 73-65 loss to Houston in a sold-out Fertitta Center.
Iowa State improved to 15-0 in Hilton Coliseum this season — and all but two of those wins have come by eight points or more. The Cyclones outscored Texas Tech 28-0 in points off turnovers on Saturday and led by as many as 21 points in their 82-74 win.
Iowa State finds itself in a rarefied spot more than halfway through the Big 12 season: Tied for first place. The No. 10 Cyclones used an 18-2 run that spanned parts of both halves Tuesday at Cincinnati to help ensure that they’d secure a 68-59 win.
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