Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball head coach T. J. Otzelberger greets Kansas State men’s basketball head coach Jerome Tang (right) before the game in the Big-12 conference showdown of an NCAA college basketball at Hilton Coliseum on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK
AMES — Joshua Jefferson sat nearly 2,000 miles away from the in-game controversy a year ago that led to minor mayhem and major meme-making at Hilton Coliseum.
The once-thorny subject: Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang’s allegations that Iowa State was spying on his huddles during his team’s 76-67 loss last January in Ames.
The far-fetched flap briefly made national waves, but didn’t amount to a ripple for Jefferson, who was focused on helping his St. Mary’s Gaels pummel Pacific (which they did).
But when he joined the Cyclones’ program this season, some teammates told him about the odd affair in a “here’s something crazy that happened last season” manner, and he just shrugged — and he’s not alone in that regard.
“We don’t really pay too much attention to the drama outside,” said Jefferson, who hopes to help the third-ranked Cyclones (17-3, 7-2) dispatch the Wildcats (9-11, 3-6) when they return to Hilton Saturday at 1 p.m. (ESPN2). “Just take care of the game and try to win the game.”
ISU head coach T.J. Otzelberger, who vociferously denied those allegations last season, politely refused to rehash any details pertaining to those bizarre events. He, like his players, is simply too consumed with “taking care of the game” — on Saturday and as February eventually fades into what should be another momentous March.
“What happened last year happened last year,” said Otzelberger, whose team seeks to extend the second-longest home winning streak in program history to 30 games on Saturday. “We’re coming off a game (at Arizona) that, you know, felt like we should have won. So our urgency and our desperation to practice great (and) play great is gonna carry us forward. It just so happens this is who our opponent is. We have a lot of respect for them.”
The feeling’s mutual.
“Home or on the road, they’re an incredible team,” Tang told reporters this week. “And then (we’ve) gotta go to Hilton, and that’s one of the best atmospheres in college basketball.”
And Hilton doesn’t forget. The student section, flanked by a cohort of super fans, will try to tease, prod and rattle Tang and his team, which recently snapped a six-game skid with home wins over West Virginia and Oklahoma State.
“The main thing is they just start real fast,” said Cyclone guard Keshon Gilbert, who leads his team in assists at 4.6 per game. “So we’ve just got to come out and start fast and do what we do from the jump.”
That’s especially true for Jefferson, who’s shined most in the second half in recent games. Take Monday’s overtime loss at Arizona. The versatile 6-8 junior scored 13 of his 15 points after halftime, and he’s committed to applying his anger-fueled late-game mentality into a full 40 minutes of ornery production.
“I think it tends to happen when I get mad with the game and sometimes with myself,” said Jefferson, who boasts an ISU-best eight double-doubles this season. “So just mentally focusing on in on putting two halves together, so (we’ll) see what will happen from there.”
Jefferson’s wide-ranging abilities will naturally match him up with Kansas State’s Coleman Hawkins — a 6-10 high-profile transfer from Illinois who leads his team in rebounds (7.1 per game) and assists (4.5). Hawkins, of course, has history with the Cyclones, as well, as he made key plays for the Illini in its 72-69 Sweet 16 win over ISU last season in Boston.
“Hawkins is a terrific mismatch player,” Otzelberger said. “They use him in a lot of ways. He can shoot it, post it, mid post, drive you right (and) beat you off the dribble to the rim.”
So Saturday’s about concrete x’s and o’s, not cloak and dagger-based secret codes. Just like last season’s meeting. The Cyclones simply played better because of crisp execution, not some alleged intel advantage — and the programs have moved in opposite directions ever since.
Jefferson, once briefed on last season’s kerfuffle, found it both strange and inconsequential. But if he’d been with the Cyclones at the time, it probably would have made him mad, which as noted, brings out his best.
“At times, yeah,” he said.
