Mar 15, 2024; Kansas City, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Keshon Gilbert (10) dives after a loose ball during the second half against the Baylor Bears at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-USA TODAY Sports
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Keshon Gilbert marveled at the sheer size of the crowd. The ear-splitting cheers. The intensity Iowa State’s fan base pulsated with every night at Hilton Coliseum.
So when the former UNLV guard entered the transfer portal last spring and Cyclone head coach T.J. Otzelberger expressed keen interest, he listened intently to the pitch.
“What brought me here was, I saw the crowd, how the crowd was, and the atmosphere of Ames having no distractions,” said Gilbert, a junior who complied a sterling stat line of 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as seventh-ranked ISU (26-7) beat No. 14 Baylor, 76-62, in Friday night’s Big 12 Tournament semifinal to reach the conference title game for the first time since the 2018-19 season. “So it meant a lot when I heard T.J. call my phone in the portal.”
The second-seeded Cyclones led by double-digits for the final 19:47 of the game after senior forward Robert Jones sank a short jumper to start the second half and the Bears (23-10) trailed by as many as 22 points while mounting an array of futile charges ISU rebuffed repeatedly down the stretch.
Six different Cyclones scored in the first six minutes of the second half to propel their team to a titanic title game matchup with top-ranked and top-seeded Houston at 5 p.m. Saturday (ESPN) at the T-Mobile Center.
“I grew up a Cyclone fan my whole life,” said sophomore point guard Tamin Lipsey, an Ames native who scored 10 points, grabbed six rebounds and had five assists to zero turnovers. “Now doing it in my time — and it’s still kind of surreal, but I’m here with my teammates just having a great time.”
No kidding. So-called Hilton South’s partisan crowd in Kanas City continues to grow and it exulted when freshman forward Milan Momcilovic opened the game by swishing a corner 3-pointer. Momcilovic had gone 4-for-30 from beyond the arc in his previous nine games.
“It was big for me just to see that first one go down and just know that I’m still a great shooter,” Momcilovic said. “I put a lot of time into my shot and I’m a great shooter (so) they’re gonna go down at some point. I hit three today and I think you can continue to look for me to keep shooting well going forward.”
ISU drilled 10 3-pointers in 20 attempts and hadn’t hit that many in a game since sinking 12 in a 79-75 home win over Kansas on Jan. 27. Coincidentally, that was the last time Momcilovic had drained three or long long-range baskets in a game — and that sharpshooting prowess came after the Cyclones shot a dismal 1-for-14 from beyond the arc in Thursday’s 76-57 quarterfinal win over Kansas State.
“The one thing they’re going to do defensively is going to give them a chance each and every night,” said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose Bears were the only Big 12 team ISU hadn’t beaten this season. “When they operate like they did offensively, they’re really hard to beat.”
Senior guard Curtis Jones scored 13 points on 3-for-6 3-point shooting, Momcilovic added 11 points while going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc and forward Hason Ward came off the bench to score 10 points, grab six rebounds, snatch away three steals and block two shots. He also soared for a poster-worthy alley-top dunk off of a feed from fellow big man Tre King with 10:27 left as Baylor applied a full-court press to no avail.
“In the moment, I’m just out there playing,” said Ward, whose big night came when Robert Jones battled constant foul trouble. “(King) saw me on the back cut. It was a good pass and I was just out there playing (and) having fun.”
Robert Jones had scored a season-high-tying 18 points on Thursday as Ward found himself drawing numerous whistles and that’s part of what fuels the Cyclones’ sense of fun. When one guy’s down for whatever reason, someone — or everyone — does something to lift him up.
“All the dinners we had together, the breakfasts we had together, all of that comes into play,” Curtis Jones said. “I think it’s because we genuinely like each other and just want to win. Everybody wants to win, so it’s fun.”
Especially for Gilbert, who after Thursday’s win sat by his locker marveling at the Hilton South turnout that continues to swell.
“I can’t believe we have more fans here than K-State fans,” he said. “It felt like Hilton out there.”
