By Skip Coopersmith

2 13 2024

GAME NOTES

https://cyclones.com/documents/2024/2/12/Gm24_vsCincinnati_2-13-24.pdf

Who: No. 10 Iowa State (18-5, 7-3 Big 12) at Cincinnati (15-8, 4-6 Big 12)

Where: Fifth Third Arena (13,176) – Cincinnati, Ohio

When: Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024 – 6 p.m.

Tipping Off: Winners of five of its last six, Iowa State hits the road for a midweek matchup in the Queen City with the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Cyclones have won two of their last three conference road games.

ISU will be playing in Cincinnati for the first time since 2015 when it took down the No. 22 Bearcats 81-79 behind a 24-point, 10-rebound double-double from Georges Niang. UC owns the all-time series record, having won four of six meetings against the Cyclones. Iowa State is 1-0 when playing at Cincinnati.

Storylines:

• UNLV transfer Keshon Gilbert, a St. Louis native, averages a team-best 13.9 points per game and has been on a tear as of late.
  • He has averaged 16 points per contest over the last seven, along with six rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Gilbert is also shooting 36.7 percent from deep during that span.
  • Gilbert recorded a triple-double against New Hampshire, going for 10 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
    • His triple-double – the eighth in school history – puts him with Lipsey, Haliburton, Monté Morris, Royce White, Jamaal Tinsley, Curtis Stinson and Marc Urquhart as members of the illustrious club.
  • Gilbert is second in the Big 12 in free throws attempted (130) and fourth in FT made (95).
    • He is second on the team in assists (96) and third in steals (39).
  • Gilbert has two Big 12 Newcomer of the Week awards to his name this season.
  • He’s recorded a team-best six 20-plus point outings.
• Tamin Lipsey has been his usual stat-stuffer self for the Cyclones so far this year, as the Ames native is averaging 13.2 points per game to go along with team-highs in assists (123) and steals (65).
  • Lipsey leads all Big 12 players in steals and steals per game.
    • He is sixth and fifth respectively, nationally, in those categories.
  • Lipsey set the school record for steals against PVAMU, picking the Panthers’ pockets eight times.
    • The previous record, seven, was held by Fred Hoiberg and Justus Thigpen.
  • Against DePaul, Lipsey recorded the seventh triple-double in school history, going for 15 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.
    • Lipsey became the first Cyclone since Tyrese Haliburton in 2020 to record a triple-double.
• Iowa State freshman Milan Momcilovic has been having a solid rookie campaign, as the first-year from Pewaukee is averaging 12.6 points per game – the third-most on the team.
  • Momcilovic has a team-high 45 3-pointers and shoots it at 40.2 percent.
  • He is one of five Cyclones to score at least 20 in a game this season.
  • Momcilovic is averaging the most points per game by an ISU true freshman since Lindell Wigginton’s 16.7 in 2017-18.
    • He is the second highest-scoring true freshman in the Big 12, behind Baylor’s Ja’Kobe Walter.
• Robert Jones leads the team in offensive rebounds (56), field goal percentage (61.7%) and blocks (22).
• Tre King leads the team in rebounds, as the senior out of Lexington, Ky., averages 5.2 per game and has a total of 120 boards.
• Hason Ward, Curtis Jones, Jackson Paveletzke, Demarion Watson and Omaha Biliew make up the bench unit for the Cyclones.
• C. Jones has been stellar off the bench in the last six games.
  • He’s scored in double figures in all six games, averaging 14.2 points.
  • He had seven steals at TCU earlier this season, tying him for the second-most steals in a single game in Iowa State history.
    • It’s the first time ever that two Cyclones recorded games with seven-plus steals in a single season.
• Iowa State forces the third-most turnovers per game (17.83) in the country – tops in the Big 12.
  • The Cyclones aberage 10.8 steals per game, also tops in the Big 12.
• As a head coach, Otz is 158-95 overall and has led the Cyclones to a 59-32 record over the last three seasons.

From the Notes:

• Iowa State has won 14 straight games at Hilton Coliseum, tied for the 10th longest active home winning streak in the country. ISU and Samford are the only two undefeated teams in the country at home with at least 14 wins.
• Iowa State has held all but one Big 12 opponent under its season scoring average. The Cyclones have held three Big 12 opponents to their lowest point totals this season: TCU (59), Houston (53) and Oklahoma State (42).
• Only eight players in the country are averaging at least 13.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game this season. Two of them reside in the Cyclone backcourt in Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert.
• Lipsey had a school-record steal streak of 34-straight games snapped on Saturday. It was the second longest streak in the country. He has a steal in 53 of the 55 games he has played.
• Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert each have triple-doubles to their names this season – making ISU the only team in the country with multiple players boasting a triple-double.
  • There are now eight in school history.
• The Cyclones are 24-1 under T.J. Otzelberger when four or more players score in double figures.
• The six highest-scoring Cyclone outputs under Otzelberger have all come this season, including a pair of 100-point performances. Nine of the 10 highest under Otz have also come this season.
• The Cyclones have scored 90 or more points six times this season. It is the most times hitting that mark in a season since the 2016-17 team did so eight times.
• As of Monday, the Cyclones are ranked No. 9 in the NET. The Cyclones slot in at No. 9 in the KenPom rankings and are No. 6 in ESPN’s Basketball Power Index.

Switching Sides:

• The Bearcats were picked to finish eleventh in the Big 12 Preseason Poll in their first season in the league.
• Cincinnati returned eight athletes from last season, brought in a pair of freshmen, and welcomed six first-year transfers.
• Cincy has four players averaging double-figure points and is led by sophomore wing Dan Skillings Jr. with 12.2.
• Cincinnati leads the conference in rebound margin, as it outrebounds opponents by an average of nine boards.
  • The Bearcats also average the most rebounds per game of any Big 12 team with 41.04.
• UC is currently ranked No. 32 in KenPom, No. 34 in the NET and No. 32 in ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index.
• Bearcat head coach Wes Miller is in his third season at the helm of the UC basketball program. With Cincy, Miller is 56-36 and took the team to the quarterfinals of the NIT last season – the team’s first postseason appearance since 2019.
  • Overall, Miller is 241-171 in his career, having began his coaching tenure with UNC Greensboro where he spent 10 season, accumulating a 185-135 record.
  • With UNCG, Miller took the team to two NCAA Tournaments (’18 & ’21) and won the Southern Conference three times.
  • Miller played point guard for Roy Williams at UNC from 2004-07.

COURTESY IOWA STATE ATHLETICS