Jan 15, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Curtis Jones (5) drives to the hoop past Kansas Jayhawks guard Zeke Mayo (5) in the first half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images
AMES – No. 2 Iowa State took down No. 9 Kansas 74-57 Wednesday to secure the program’s third-straight win over the Jayhawks at Hilton Coliseum.
Let’s go through the takeaways.
Iowa State was the better team
Ten years ago, stealing a win from Kansas at Hilton Coliseum was the hallmark prize for Iowa State basketball. Any time the program that had dominated for decades came into Hilton, there was an opportunity, but things would have to play out almost perfectly for the Cyclones to capitalize.
On Wednesday, Iowa State overwhelmed Kansas in the first half, while collecting 10 turnovers in what was a sloppy game in different moments.
“We had some chances, but there was no question they were better tonight,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Even though I think that if things had gone a little bit better for us or fallen differently… but obviously they made more plays.”
The Cyclones, donning vintage uniforms, looked like the Kansas teams of the past that would dominate them throughout the night 10 years ago.
Wednesday was a complete role reversal, and the three-game win streak at Hilton cements that.
Curtis Jones’ evolution
I have no idea of the eligibility for Sixth Man of the Year, but Jones has distantly lapped the competition for that award.
Self called him an All-American, and the former transfer from Buffalo has become Iowa State’s most consistent scorer, showcasing his range and athleticism almost every time he hits the floor.
In five Big 12 games so far, Jones has failed to reach 20 points once – and that came during the Cyclones drumming of No. 25 Baylor.
On Wednesday, he tallied 25 points, with 20 of them coming in the first half as he helped extend the lead to 10 at the halftime break.
He’s the best player in the Big 12 right now, and he will be honored with that award (possibly more) if he keeps it up.
Every shot Tamin Lipsey takes feels impactful
Maybe that’s because he doesn’t take as many as the next guy in the lineup, but the star point guard did that again Wednesday.
Lipsey finished with 10 points that included a pair of impactful three’s that Iowa State needed to keep Kansas at bay.
“Your point guard makes every play,” Self said. “He doesn’t score as many points, but I think that’s as much as anything.”
Lipsey’s first points of the night came on a lay-in where he dodged the defense of Kansas big Hunter Dickinson and put Iowa State up by five.
Kansas never got the deficit down to less than five after that, and Lipsey finished with a game-high plus/minus of +21.
Demarion Watson: back.
Down Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State turned to Demarion Watson to fill minutes and opted to keep its rotation to eight players.
“Whenever you have a change like that, you want the next man up to be prepared and step up,” Otzelberger said. “When I met with Demarion yesterday when we knew it was going to be a possibility, his response was terrific.
“He said, ‘I’ve been getting extra workouts every day on my own. I’ve been coming in at night, getting shots (up). I’ve been locked in during practice, and I’m ready to go,'” Otzelberger said. “And then he said, ‘and I’ve played good against these guys in the past, too.'”
And he did so again on Wednesday.
In 10 minutes on the floor, Watson found five rebounds as well as an exclamation point block on Kansas’ Dajuan Harris Jr..
“His confidence, again, (we) talk about all the character things – I mean, he hasn’t gotten in a game for I don’t even know how long, maybe a month,” Otzelberger said. “To be ready to step in and to have such an impactful performance, you can tell how much our fans appreciate him when he goes in and gets the block that he had.
“Then to have five rebounds in not even 10 minutes of play when we’ve emphasized that the one area we need to be much better is on the glass,” Otzelberger said. “It speaks volumes of what a great job he did. So it’s really more of a credit to Demarion that he stayed ready and prepared so that when we have somebody out, we’re able to continue to move forward seamlessly.”