Iowa State freshman forward Omaha Biliew (33) catches a pass against Kansas State senior forward David N’Guessan (1) in the second half of the quarterfinal round in the Big 12 Tournament inside the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Fifty days.
That’s how long it had been since Iowa State five-star freshman forward Omaha Biliew had checked into a game — until Thursday’s Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal win over Kansas State.
The 6-8 Biliew trotted onto the T-Mobile Center’s court at the 17:13 mark of the first half in the 76-57 rout of the Wildcats and gave the second-seeded Cyclones (25-7) a productive six minutes on both ends of the floor throughout the game.
“It was fun,” said Biliew, who scored a layup, grabbed a rebound, and bounced a nifty assist to fellow big man Tre King in the paint. “It was exciting to be out there, obviously (at) Hilton South. It was really fun to be out there with my teammates. We went out on top. We brought a lot of energy and it’s gonna be great film for us to go back and watch to prepare for (the semifinals).
That would be today’s 8:30 p.m. matchup with third-seeded Baylor, who beat 11th-seeded Cincinnati, 68-56, in Thursday’s late quarterfinal. And while it’s unclear whether Billiew will continue to come off the bench is anyone’s guess, he drew rave reviews from head coach T.J. Otzelberger and his teammates. Especially King, who scored 16 points Thursday to help ISU avenge last Saturday’s loss to Kansas State in Manhattan.
“I’m so proud of him,” King said. “Even with him not being able to play for that long stretch and him sitting out those games, he was always a great teammate. And even though it wasn’t going in his favor, he stuck with his process. He kept working. He’s one of the hardest workers on our team and credit to him for just being ready. One of the things we talk about is, if you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready, and he did that. … One of the things I noticed for him, was as soon as he came in he got a rebound and got a cutting layup. It gave us a huge boost and us being proud of him gave us a boost as well. It really kicked off one of our biggest runs of the game, so I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Biliew said the Cyclones have instilled a deep sense of confidence in him despite his lack of playing time. Couple that with his formidable skill set and his future remains ultra-bright regardless of what the rest of the postseason brings in terms of minutes.
“All the work that we’ve been putting into practice, just getting a feel of them, and they’re getting a feel for me, it’s going through every single day,” Biliew said. “I’m just letting it show.”
Sophomore point guard Tamin Lipsey fully agrees.
“He’s ready for it,” the first-team All-Big 12 talent said. “I see him working every day in workouts and practice. He goes just as hard as if he’s playing, just like us. That just shows his character. The coaches realize it. The team realizes it. We love the effort that he brings, and the physicality and the energy. That obviously (has) a big impact (on) us.”
MILAN’S MUSINGS
It’s no secret that highly-touted freshman forward Milan Momcilovic has struggled to hit shots lately, but he scored six points in the second half in Thursday’s win that helped spur a couple of big runs.
“This group’s so together and we knew we were gonna pull together and just take it from there,” Momcilovic said. “We knew we were gonna make a run and we knew this thing wasn’t gonna be close at the end.”
CURT’S CONFIDENCE
It had been almost a month since senior sixth man Curtis Jones failed to score in double figures before he finished with six points in Thursday’s win. Call that a blip, not a trend, so unsurprisingly his confidence remains high — especially in terms of what the Cyclones can potentially do later in March.
