Iowa State Basketball: Curtis Jones' performance in Kansas game
Iowa State basketball's Curtis Jones continues to make big contributions, whether as a starter or coming off the bench.
AMES – How do I do it? Iowa State men's basketball Need to deal with heightened expectations?
Big 12 rival no. 10 In a key matchup with Kansas, the newly minted No. 2 team in the country didn't miss a beat in its first game since being ranked the highest in program history.
that The Cyclones defeated the visiting Jayhawks 74-57. on Wednesday night.
With the win, the Cyclones continued their 12-game winning streak, the longest in the country. They have also recorded their 28th straight home win.
Curtis Jones leads the way with 25 points, including 5-of-6 shooting from long range and six rebounds. Dishon Jackson added 17 points off the bench. Joshua Jefferson recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Tamin Lipsey also got a 10. Keshon Gilbert had seven points and eight assists.
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday's victory:
Cyclone hits Kansas
Aside from Zeke Mayo's team-high 17 points, no other Jayhawk scored in double figures.
Still, Mayo had to work for 17 points as he shot 7-for-19 overall and 3-for-9 from long range. The next highest scorer was Dajuan Harris Jr. with 8 points.
Hunter Dickinson, who entered Wednesday's game averaging a team-high 15.8 points and 10.5 rebounds, has never performed well offensively.
Iowa State Basketball: TJ Otzelberger on defense against Kansas.
Iowa State basketball coach TJ Otzelberger talks about the team's rebounding and defense after the 74-57 win over Kansas.
Dickinson had his lowest points of the season with 6 points on 3-of-10 shooting. He also committed four turnovers.
The Cyclones held Kansas to 24-of-59 (40.7%) from the floor and 5-of-16 (31.3%) from deep. They also forced 17 turnovers, which turned into 23 points on the other end.
Iowa State won by 17 points, but Kansas applied pressure several times throughout the second half. The Jayhawks cut the Cyclone lead to 3-5 points on several occasions.
Iowa State never gave up a lead over the final 20 minutes and its defense played a big role.
After being bullied on the glass against Texas Tech, the Cyclones came home with more urgency and beat Kansas 43-33.
“We knew both of those areas were going to be very important,” Iowa State coach TJ Otzelberger said. “Dajuan Harris is a phenomenal guard, lives in the paint and is a great playmaker, so we started by keeping him out of the paint. Then as they used those two big lineups, their offensive rebounding ability and physicality improved. .What was in the paint and glass was what really stood out to us.
“Those were two big challenges coming into a game we knew was going to be difficult, so overall I was proud of the effort our players put in in that area as our defense helped fuel our offense. .”
Iowa State Basketball: Otzelberger's Milan Momcilovic injury update.
Iowa State basketball coach TJ Otzelberger provided an update on Milan Momcilovic, who is out indefinitely with a hand injury.
Is there no Milan Momcilovic? No problem. Next person.
On Wednesday afternoon, Iowa State announced its sophomore wing. Milan Momcilovic The trainee was out indefinitely due to a hand injury.
After the win over Kansas, Otzelberger said he hoped Momcilovic would be evaluated by a specialist to confirm the diagnosis and confirm a timetable for his return. Initial assessments suggest he could be out for up to four to six weeks.
In Momcilovic's absence, Curtis Jones was named to the starting five for the first time since the start of the 2024-25 season. Jones made all of his first six shot attempts and scored 20 of his career-high 25 points in the first half.
Every shot attempt feels like a good attempt for Jones. Especially when he can hit buckets or knock down contested shots well beyond NBA 3-point range.
Whether he comes off the bench or as a starter, he's a threat every time the ball gets into his hands.
“I just want to play a lot of minutes and win games,” Jones said. “You can do it both ways, starting from the bench or coming down. I think there is a difference, but the truth is I was doing what I would have done if I came off the bench.”
Momcilovic's injury also opened up a spot in Iowa State's eight-man rotation, which provided an opportunity for junior Demarion Watson on Wednesday.
The 6-foot-7 reserve hasn't played since Dec. 15 against Omaha and was forced to get minutes off the bench against a top-10 opponent.
Watson attempted one shot in 10 minutes and scored just one point. But he was active on the glass, grabbing five boards and had an impressive chase block, including hitting a layup off the backboard.
Otzelberger said he met with Watson on Tuesday when Momcilovic's injury seemed like a plausible possibility.
“He hasn’t played in a month and you can see how highly our fans value him because he’s ready to have an impactful performance,” Otzelberger said. “When he got the block he had and had five rebounds in less than 10 minutes of play, there was a lot of credit for what a great job he did when we emphasized that where we need to be a lot better is on the glass. It's really a credit to Demarion that he stayed ready.”
Iowa State Basketball: TJ Otzelberger in starting lineup against Kansas.
Iowa State basketball coach TJ Otzelberger explained why Brandton Chatfield started over Dishon Jackson in Wednesday's 74-57 win over Kansas.
Why Iowa State's Brandton Chatfield started against Dishon Jackson and how both players contributed against Kansas
After Momčilovic's injury, adding Jones to the starting five seemed like a natural decision. But that wasn't the only lineup change Wednesday night.
Branton Chatfield It was his first start as a Cyclone and Dishon Jackson came off the bench.
According to Otzelberger, the decision to swap the two big men was a result of Jackson missing mandatory film sessions during the week.
“The standards are so high that we don’t want any mistakes or mistakes to happen,” Otzelberger said. “We expect everyone to meet that standard. At the same time, once Dishon made that choice and decision, it was out of his hands and he had to react to it in a positive way. How did he practice? How did he practice? What kind of energy did he bring to the game? He gave us a lot of energy off the bench.”
After brief games against Texas Tech and Utah, Jackson had one of his best games of the season Wednesday. He tied his season high with 17 points, including numerous slam dunks that energized the team and the crowd. He also grabbed four boards and had a block.
As for Chatfield, he was more of a defensive, physical presence in the lineup, although he only had four points, including an alley-oop slam that lit the stadium on fire.
He helped slow Dickinson down and limit his effectiveness.
“Stat lines don’t tell the story at all,” Otzelberger said. “The physicality of him making the plays and pushing Dickinson out of the spots where he normally gets the ball – if you look at the start of the second half, if you look at the first two defensive possessions, we were able to cause turnovers and that was largely due to Brandt's physicality and toughness as well. Two big players. Well done everyone.”
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene erapay@gannett.com. follow him on twitter @erapay5.
2025-01-16 12:52:21
3 takeaways from the Cyclones' win over Kansas
