Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball head coach T.J. Otzelberger reacts during the first half against Colorado in the Big-12 men’s basketball at Hilton Coliseum on Feb.18, 2025 in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
AMES — Iowa State’s rigorous daily habits are designed to form a bulwark against adversity.
That’s because the Cyclones are taught to expect and overcome such challenges, not to be caught off-guard and shrink from them.
But ninth-ranked ISU’s latest loss — a startling 74-68 setback at Big 12 bottom feeder Oklahoma State — proved that head coach T.J. Otzelberger’s best-laid and time-tested plan for on-court success isn’t foolproof. It also isn’t optional. Each of the Cyclones’ carefully-curated cohort of top players either fully buys in or grabs a seat on the bench.
“We spend a lot of time on the consistency of habits, the daily habits, the physicality, the mental toughness in how we do that,”said Otzelberger, whose injury-depleted team (21-7, 11-6) seeks to get back on track at 8 p.m. Saturday (ESPN) against No. 22 Arizona (19-9, 13-4) at Hilton Coliseum. “So regardless of injury, regardless of what guys are dealing with, all those things, there’s a standard that we need to display when we go out and compete. And that 95 percent (adherence rate) has to trend towards 100 percent of the time. I can’t explain why we’ve had a few games this year where it hasn’t been to the standard.”
A lack of continuity in the rotation for over a month at least partially explains some of the Cyclones’ struggles. Top 3-point shooter Milan Momcilovic missed nearly a month because of a hand injury, but when he returned, ISU rattled off four straight wins. Then leading scorer Curtis Jones was stricken with walking pneumonia, which forced him to miss the 68-59 loss at No. 4 Houston. Leading assist man Keshon Gilbert also missed that game with a muscle strain — an absence that extended into the head-shaking loss in Stillwater. Jones returned for that game and scored 11 points. Gilbert, Otzelberger said, could be back to face the Wildcats this weekend, but remains questionable.
“We’re optimistic that he’ll be able to return,” Otzelberger said of Gilbert, who’s also one of the Cyclones’ best finishers in the paint. “Again, his health and well being (is) No. 1. (He) was able to practice (on Thursday) for the first time (in a while), so we’ll see how his body responds to that and where he’s at.”
ISU’s lone loss this season when at full strength came against top-ranked Auburn in Maui, but some of its thornier issues (careless ball-handing, occasional lapses on defense) have crept in even in the best of times.
So Otzelberger’s team has reentered back-to-basics mode this week in an effort to recommit to those long-touted habits that remain critical to success.
“I think we just took Oklahoma State too lightly,” said versatile ISU forward Joshua Jefferson, who’s averaging 3.8 steals in the past four games, but also turned the ball over four or more times in three of those matchups. “We won’t do that ever again for the rest of the season. Just want to play how we play — how we’re supposed to play — every single game from (here) on out.”
That means the Cyclones’ gritty practice performances must be mirrored in games. ISU’s dropped to the top No. 3 seed in ESPN Bracketology guru Joe Lunardi’s latest NCAA Tournament projections, but top-25 wins over Arizona on Saturday and red-hot BYU on Tuesday at Hilton could propel the Cyclones squarely back to the No. 2 line.
And there have been some positive developments for ISU despite its two-game tumble and shaky past month. Guard Nate Heise’s notched Cyclone career-highs in points in three consecutive games, and the former Northern Iowa transfer drilled three of his four 3-point attempts against Oklahoma State.
“Nate is playing to his ability level,” Otzelberger said. “I don’t think he’s doing anything at this point beyond that. He’s extremely capable.”
Just like ISU’s team writ large — which can avenge an overtime road loss to the Wildcats made possible by a buzzer-beating 55-footer in regulation. The Cyclones don’t need a makeover. They simply need to untangle their roots and dig deep into them.
“The way we’re gonna fix it is through practice,” said Heise, who’s averaging 12 points in the past three games. “Just going through it as hard as we can with the effort we need to put in the game.”
