Mar 1, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Carter Bryant (9) defends Iowa State Cyclones forward Milan Momcilovic (22) during the first half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images
AMES — The long-distance barrage last two minutes and five seconds.
Iowa State forward Milan Momcilovic commanded center stage during that first-half flurry of 3-pointers Saturday against Arizona, draining three shots from beyond the arc in that span.
Reserve guard Nate Heise added his own 3-pointer during that decisive salvo, and the No. 9 Cyclones cruised to an 84-67 win over the No. 22 Wildcats (19-10, 13-5) on a night in which former star Tyrese Haliburton’s Olympic Gold medal-commemorating banner was unfurled from the Hilton Coliseum rafters.
And even more importantly, ISU (22-7, 12-6 Big 12) made a statement in what’s fully expected will be a momentous March.
“This is the start of our run,” said Momcilovic, who scored 17 points on 4-for-7 3-point shooting to help his team end a two-game skid. “We need to do it here in March. I feel like this is a steppingstone and we can take off from here.”
The Cyclones avenged an 86-75 loss at Arizona in overtime that was made possible by guard Caleb Love’s 55-foot buzzer-beater at the end of regulation. But payback was not on ISU’s mind. The statement head coach T.J. Otzelberger’s team successfully made hinged on its dogged pursuit of making its opponent miserable on the offensive side of the floor.
One play in particular stood out. The Cyclones’ backup big man, Brandton Chatfield, missed a dunk on one end and found himself confronted with a driving Love. Chatfield moved his feet and held his ground. ISU guard Curtis Jones moved in for a double team and Love jettisoned a desperate pass that Tamin Lipsey intercepted and drove the other way for a layup. That sequence gave the Cyclones a 60-38 lead with 13:09 left, and even though Arizona later rallied within nine points of the lead, the ultimate outcome never veered into the realm of doubt.
“That’s who we are and that’s who we will be,” Otzelberger said. “And I think at times — I don’t ever fault our guys intent in terms of what they want to do — but it’s a full commitment to every single possession. This is what it will be and there’s no deviation. And that possession in particular, it was big, because our fans were amazing tonight, awesome atmosphere and environment. But the y respect so much that toughness and that effort, so that’s something that’s worth more than just the two points on the other end.”
ISU welcomed second-leading scorer Keshon Gilbert back into the starting lineup after a two game absence because of a muscle strain, and he scored six points, grabbed three rebounds, and totaled two assists and two steals. He also accounted for seven of the Cyclones’ 16 turnovers — an area that’s plagued the team in recent weeks. ISU’s turned the ball over 14 or more times in five of its last seven games, but still crafted a seven-point edge in points off turnovers on Saturday.
“It’s certainly something that we’re aware we have to be better with, and something that we work on and feel good that we will be better with it,” Otzelberger said.
The Cyclones shot 50 percent from the field while limiting Arizona to 33 percent shooting overall, and a dismal 18.2 percent from 3-point range.
Lipsey added 15 points for ISU and drained two of his three 3-point attempts while notching multiple steals for the fifth time in the past six games.
“We have areas to improve, which is nice when you win with a margin like this,” said Lipsey, who recently became the program’s all-time steals leader. “We feel like we still left some out on the table so it feels good to bounce back.”
Heise and Jones added 12 points apiece. Chatfield totaled 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds off the bench while the Cyclones’ front court starters, Dishon Jackson and Joshua Jefferson, battled foul trouble most of the game.
“(Chatfield) out of everybody who played tonight was the most physical guy on the interior, on the glass, rolling to the rim, jump-walling at the rim, so as a result, he ends up with 10 and 8,” Otzelberger said. “But his impact on the game was far greater than that.”
So March begins with ISU’s 25th top-25 win under Otzelberger — the most by a head coach in school history. Next up: No. 25 BYU at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Hilton.
“We’ve got to be the more physical, tougher team.” Otzelberger said. “When we do that, we’ll beat anybody, and tonight we did that, and we’re extremely confident in our ability to do that moving forward. Now we’ve gotta earn it every single day.”
