By Rob Gray, correspondent
Milan Momcilovic drained five of his first six 3-point attempts.
The star Iowa State forward also drove for the go-ahead layup with 1:55 remaining in Monday’s mettle-testing top-15 matchup with St. John’s.
But after the No. 15 Cyclones held off the 14th-ranked Red Storm, 83-82, in game one of three at the prestigious Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, Momcilovic shifted the spotlight to his hard-nosed and foul-troubled big man, Blake Buchanan.
“Shoutout to (him),” Momcilovic told TNT after scoring a game-high 23 points as ISU improved to 5-0. “He was the reason we won that game.”
The 6-10 transfer from Virginia was a big reason, anyway. Buchanan picked up his fourth foul with 18:42 left. He returned roughly nine minutes later and stayed on the floor until the final horn buzzed. Within that span, he sank two pressure-packed free throws after coming in and a 30 percent foul shooter, grabbed two pivotal offensive rebounds, hit a couple crucial layups, and capped that nine-minute burst of positive activity with the assist on Momcilovic’s late driving layup.
“We just stayed on top of it,” Buchanan said on the Cyclone Radio Network after the win. “We stayed physical and it worked out.”
Buchanan finished with seven points, four rebounds and three assists. ISU grabbed 10 off its 17 offensive rebounds in the second half, and star forward Joshua Jefferson his two free throws with 10 seconds left to help secure the win over the tough and talented Red Storm (3-2). Jefferson — who took a hard fall in the first half and was briefly checked out on the locker room — finished with 17 points and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.
“We’re proud of our guys,” ISU head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “The resolve is something that we work for and try to earn every day.”
Not everything went great for ISU, though.
Standout senior guard Tamin Lipsey suffered an apparent lower-body injury late in the game and returned to the bench, but not the floor after being checked out by medical staff. He scored 16 points — three points below his team-leading average — and doled out a team-high five assists. The Cyclones play Creighton (3-2) at 1 p.m. Tuesday in Vegas.
“Tamin’s as tough as they come,” said Otzelberger, who notched his 100th career win as ISU’s head coach. “He’s an absolute warrior and has played through so many things, so we’ll get back, figure out what’s going on, and we’ll act in the best interest of Tamin and his health. If he’s not able to go for whatever reason, it’’ll be a next men up mentality.”
The Cyclones needed each of the 10 players who routinely take the floor for them to perform well on Monday, especially as they forced just three first-half turnovers. ISU forced seven in the second half, however, to finish with a narrow 14-to-13 edge in points off turnovers — a statistic they usually dominate.
“I feel like in the first half there was probably a three to four minute stretch where it really got away from us and we put ourself at deficit,” Otzelberger said. “But proud of our guys with how we started the second half with back-to-back turnovers (forced). We put ourselves right back in position where we were playing out in front.”
