Peterson: Iowa State basketball looked like itself again in the Big 12 Tournament win
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – One play among many showed just how far Iowa State basketball came from Saturday’s debacle at Kansas State to Thursday’s shining moment(s) in the Big 12 Tournament.
With a minute left in the first half of the eighth-ranked Cyclones' 76-57 victory against the Wildcats, Tamin Lipsey dove for a loose ball on the Wildcats’ shooting end. From his back side, he blindly passed ahead to Keshon Gilbert, who finished the play with an alley-oop dunk.
What a play. Makes you wonder what Kansas State coach Jerome Tang thought about it. Did you hear what Tang said after the game about Iowa State’s first-team all-Big 12 point guard?
“The No. 1 flopper plays for Iowa State, and he's really good, Tamin Lipsey,” Tang said.
More: Iowa State basketball rolls into Big 12 Tournament semifinals with win over Kansas State
Why doesn’t that surprise me, Tang sort of running down Iowa State’s best player, even if he meant jest? I mean, he tossed out some sophomoric accusations about Iowa State spying on his team’s huddle during their Jan. 24 game in Ames. T.J. Otzelberger, his players and their fans won't soon forget that one.
Do ya think that’s why Iowa State fans, who made up about two-thirds of the crowd at the T-Mobile Center, booed Tang loudly when he came onto the floor before the game?
And when he got a first-half technical – oh my, Iowa State's faithful loved that.
Tang can complain about Lipsey all he wants. The bottom line is that the former Ames High School star is a winner. He’ll be playing in the NCAA Tournament next week, while Tang’s team is likely playing someone in the, ahem, NIT.
Anyhow, that Lipsey pass, from his seat, got the crowd excited and sent the Cyclones into the halftime locker room with momentum. And speaking of excited – I hope TV cameras showed Otzelberger a few times during Iowa State’s 25th victory of the season. The third-year Iowa State coach was so excited at times that I thought buttons on his one-size-too-small polo would burst.
“I did push-ups this morning,” Otz told me outside his locker room after the game.
Here’s the deal: Some of the factors in Iowa State’s loss at Kansas State on Saturday were a lack of aggression, a lack of toughness and getting beat in areas where the Cyclones usually beat opponents.
Otzelberger wanted to see more emotional fire, and Thursday that started from the bench.
More: Iowa State basketball without Demarion Watson (concussion protocol) for Big 12 quarterfinal
“We weren’t at our best on Saturday. They were the aggressor,” he said after Thursday's victory that set up a Friday night semifinal against Baylor. “But it was important when we came out, that we were the aggressor. That’s second-chance points – all the areas we did during the season.
“I wanted to make sure the messaging was clear, and the focus and intensity."
Second-chance points: Iowa State 18, Kansas State 11.
Points in the paint: Iowa State 44, Wildcats 24.
Fastbreak points: Cyclones 18, K-State 2.
That’s Iowa State domination at its finest – despite making just one three-point shot in 14 attempts.
“And we still beat them by 20,” said freshman Milan Momcilovic, stretching the actual margin by merely a point.
That’s the kind of game this was. A revenge game, so to speak.
Revenge from Tang’s nonsense accusations. Revenge for playing downright horribly last Saturday.
And get this: Omaha Biliew even got some playing time Thursday. Those of you who have sent sometimes-daily messages asking for an update on Biliew – well, I hope you were watching Thursday night.
With just 3 minutes gone in the game, the five-star freshman who everyone has wondered about, came into the game with Iowa State leading by two points. Normally, that substitution would have been for Demarion Watson, but he was still in concussion protocol.
Needing a big player on the floor, Otzelberger went with Biliew, whose resume this season included just 16 games and an average of 7.8 minutes.
How’s BIliew doing, you ask?
He’s been doing well enough in practice to warrant playing time in the biggest game of his career. He’s been working out, hustling, being a good guy for when his teammates needed him. He was ready.
“It’s really hard to sit back and watch everybody play,” he said, sitting in the locker room after Thursday’s game. “The competitiveness in me – I want to be out there. That’s just my love for the game.
“I came to practice every day with an attitude of bringing my best every single game and every single practice."
I was doing something on my laptop when Iowa State fans went bonkers with applause and cheers. I looked up suddenly to see No. 33 running onto the floor.
“I heard it,” Biliew said. “I felt the love and attention. It was fun.”
That pretty much summed up Iowa State’s Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal victory.
Yeah, it was fun – especially when the opponent was Kansas State.
“It felt good,” Gilbert said. “It’s crazy that we have more fans than Kansas State. It felt good.”
Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson is in his 52nd year writing sports for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, on X @RandyPete, and at DesMoinesRegister.com/CyclonesTexts
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State basketball returned to form in Big 12 Tournament opener
