Feb 8, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; TCU Horned Frogs guard Vasean Allette (3) watches Iowa State Cyclones guard Curtis Jones (5) shoot during the first half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images
AMES – With Milan Momcilovic back in the starting lineup, Iowa State’s star shooter in Curtis Jones was back to coming off of the bench in his team’s 82-52 win over TCU Saturday.
And for the first time in nearly two weeks, he was back in double figures, helping the Cyclones’ snap a three-game losing streak.
“It was great to see it’s something that’s worked for us in the past, work today,” Jones said. “So I was glad to get back to that recipe that we had going and just look forward to continuing with this momentum that we built today.”
The Cyclones reached a rough spot in their season, going 3-4 without Momcilovic on the floor.
Coming into the three-game losing skid, Jones had scored 18 points or more in six straight games. He failed to reach that mark in each of the losses, but did so with ease in the team’s 30-point, conference-game win.
“We prepared this week very hard – just harder than it has been,” Jones said. “Just getting bodies back, getting everybody back healthy – that helps, but having Milan back was great. He made four threes, which is big time, and I made five. So it was a good day shooting for both of us, over 50% from three.”
Jones looked all the part of his former self, going 5-6 from distance with 24 points, a rebound and an assist. At one point, Jones hit a 3-pointer on three straight possessions.
He attributes his strong play with Momcilovic’s return.
“Curt Jones is an elite play-making, scoring guard and regardless of what another team does, if the ball is on the move and we’re playing for one another, Curt is going to be successful,” coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “I think we saw that tonight. We’ll continue to to see that moving forward and I’m just really proud of the way that he played and the energy that he played with.”
Iowa State went through it’s processes getting back up to snuff in the early parts of Saturday’s game, but it became evident that it would figure things out when both players were hitting on three’s again.
“Just seeing the lane be a little less clogged than it normally is, it’s big time because we’re a team that likes to actually score in the paint,” Jones said. “So to be scoring in the paint, there’s got to be open space in there, and Milan brings that. I feel like when I’m out there, I could bring that as well. So having two guys that do that really opens up the floor for guys like Tamin (Lipsey) and (Keshon Gilbert), myself and everybody else.”
Iowa State will return to the court Tuesday, taking on UCF on the road at 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+).
If Jones has another big game, it shouldn’t surprise anyone.
“It’s crazy to just think of letting the game come to you, coming off the bench and scoring 24, but he makes it seem like that’s a common thing to do, even though nobody else on Earth does that,” Otzelberger said.
