Feb 22, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars guard Terrance Arceneaux (23) steals the ball from Iowa State Cyclones guard Cade Kelderman (13) in the first half at Fertitta Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
Iowa State was without two of its stars, and nearly erased a 16-point deficit in its 68-59 loss to No. 5 Houston on Saturday in the Fertitta Center.
The Cyclones, knowing they were down some offensive firepower, forced 17 turnovers on the defensive side, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars.
“To say that we would have been in the game at halftime and still had a fighter’s chance with, offensively, where Milan (Momcilovic) and Joshua (Jefferson) were points-wise, I would have said no chance,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said on the Varsity Network postgame show. “In the second half, those guys were tremendous. And as you mentioned with Joshua, the plays he’s making with the basketball – the steals – he does so many things to impact winning.”
Both Curtis Jones (illness) and Keshon Gilbert (muscle strain) – Iowa State’s two leading scorers – were not available.
Iowa State went deep into its bench as a result, with walk-on Cade Kelderman entering the game in the first three minutes and logging nine minutes on the floor mostly in the first half.
The Cyclones entered the halftime break trailing Houston by 12, and would later go down by 16 points.
That’s when Otzelberger’s team, especially Milan Momcilovic, turned it on.
The sophomore forward was 0-7 and didn’t score in the first half, but collected 16 points in the second with six in a row coming in the midst of a 13-0 run that got Iowa State back into the game.
“I’m really proud of Milan in terms of – in the first half, things didn’t go his way,” Otzelberger said. “To have 16 in the second half, and to keep hunting and staying aggressive… That’s a great lesson for him to learn, too, to continue to keep fighting and pushing.”
The Cyclones found themselves down by three points, when Nate Heise took an elbow to the face that was later reviewed to be a foul called on himself.
The replay of the cylinder foul Nate Heise was called for:pic.twitter.com/PSxMUoxgOm
— CycloneFanatic.com (@cyclonefanatic) February 22, 2025
Heise still finished the game with 12 points, along with a pair of 3-pointers, in what was one of his best games as a Cyclone.
“Heise played great, he really did,” Otzelberger said. “I mean, defensively, he made a lot of plays. Offensively, his confidence is high. He’s playing his best at a great time of the year, to be playing their best. And we’ll continue to move that forward.”
Iowa State needed that performance out of Heise to compete in this game, along with Brandt Chatfield who was also called to step up when Dishon Jackson went to the bench with his third foul in the first half.
Chatfield finished 3-4 from the field with eight points and a 2-2 line at the free throw line.
“When everybody’s healthy and we’re out there, and you think about a bench, the way Heise’s playing now, the way Curtis (Jones) always plays, and the way Brandt’s been playing for this last stretch, we really have some depth when we go to that bench,” Otzelberger said.
During the game Iowa State point guard Tamin Lipsey broke the program’s all-time steals record, which was set by Monte Morris over the course of four seasons with the Cyclones.
Lipsey, who finished with 11 points including three triples, broke the record in his third year.
“No, it really is,” Otzelberger said. “I mean, Monte (Morris) is an unbelievable player, and for Tamin to break that at this point… we saw Monte a few weeks ago. We were in Phoenix. He came by to see the team, talk to the guys and say hi to Taman, and we talked about it at that point, he knew it was coming. (I’m just) really proud of Tamin. I mean, what a great player he is, how many winning plays he makes, the disruptions guarding the basketball… It couldn’t go to a guy who’s earned it and worked for more than Tamin.”
Iowa State will return to the floor on Tuesday to face Oklahoma State on the road on Tuesday (7 p.m. ESPN+).
“I would say this – our guys could have came into this game feeling like we were down a couple players, or we were a victim, or things weren’t going to go our way” Otzelberger said. “What I learned is the mental toughness that we have across the board. Guys stepped up in so many ways. It’s great to see guys like Cade (Kelderman) and Nojus (Indrusaitis) get opportunities out there. (Damarion Watson) had extended minutes. “
“So, what we learned is that there’s a lot of pride in our program,” Otzelberger said. “And even though guys are out, they care about our program. They care about the product. They care about the fight, the toughness, the competitiveness. I mean, I’ll take that effort and that togetherness any night. So what we learned is that our guys are that team every single game, and that’s who we will be moving forward.”
