Iowa State vs. Eastern Illinois Primer

Who: Iowa State (9-2, 0-0 Big 12) vs. Eastern Illinois (6-6, 0-0 OVC)

Where: Hilton Coliseum (14,267) – Ames, Iowa

When: Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023 – 7:00 p.m.

Tipping Off: After securing its fourth-straight win while scoring 90-plus points – the longest such streak since 2013 – Iowa State turns its attention to the Eastern Illinois Panthers for the final game before the holidays.

Iowa State is 3-0 all-time against the Panthers, with all three previous meetings coming in Hilton Coliseum. In the last meeting, a 101-53 Cyclone win on 12/21/18, Marial Shayok had a game-high 23 points, Talen Horton-Tucker had a game-high with eight assists and Tyrese Haliburton had a game-high eight rebounds.

Storylines:

Iowa State has been scoring more this season than the previous two under Otzelberger, as the five highest scoring Cyclone outputs under Otz have all come this season.
The Cyclones' current four-game win streak has been highlighted by offensive outputs.
- Against DePaul, ISU produced its most points (99) in a road contest since 2001 when it scored 109 in a 4OT loss to Missouri.
- Iowa State followed that up with a 25-point home win over Iowa. The 25-point margin of victory over Iowa is the largest by any ISU team in the 113-year history of the meeting.
- The Cyclones bested PVAMU 107-56. The 107 points were the most by any Cyclone team since 2019 when ISU bested Mississippi Valley State, scoring 110 points.
- In its most recent outing, ISU defeated Florida A&M, 96-58. It's the first time ISU has scored 90-plus in four straight wins since Nov. 20-Dec. 7, 2013.
UNLV transfer Keshon Gilbert has found his groove for the Cyclones, as he's recorded four 20-plus point outings this season, including three in the last four contests.
- Gilbert is averaging a team-high 15.7 points per contest and is leading the Big 12 in both free throws made (57) and attempted (80).
  - He is second on the team in minutes, field goals made (54), assists (48) and steals (23).
- Gilbert earned his first career double-double against VCU on Thanksgiving, dropping 22 points and pulling in 10 boards.
- Gilbert tied his career-high in scoring against Iowa, dropping 25 points – the most by any Cyclone this season in a single game.
  - Gilbert has four 20-plus point outings this year to lead the team.
- He flirted with a triple-double in the Prairie View A&M game, dropping 20 points, eight assists and eight rebounds.
Tamin Lipsey continues to make steady improvement for the Cyclones, as the hometown kid is averaging 15.5 points per game. He leads the team in rebounds (66), assists (66), steals (39) and minutes played.
- In his last outing, Lipsey canned five triples, notching a new career-high.
- 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, joining the likes of Monté Morris, Royce White, Jamaal Tinsley, Curtis Stinson and Marc Urquhart as members of the illustrious club.
- Lipsey set a new personal best on Thanksgiving against VCU, scoring 22 points. He then set a personal best for rebounds against No. 12 Texas A&M with 14.
Iowa State freshman Milan Momcilovic has had a solid start to his freshman campaign, as the rookie from Pewaukee is averaging 13.3 points per game.
- Momcilovic has a team-high 25 3-pointers and strokes it at a 45.5% clip.
- He recorded 21 points against Virginia Tech in Florida – a career-high – and is one of five Cyclones to score at least 20 in a game this season.
- Through 11 games, Momcilovic is one of just five true freshmen in the country with 25 3-pointers made.
  - Momcilovic is one of two Cyclones to have made six 3-pointers in a single game this season.
Robert Jones has started the last eight games after taking over the starting five spot for Hason Ward who went down with an injury in November.
- Jones leads the team in field goal percentage, as the big man is shooting 70.7 percent from the floor. He also leads the team in blocks (12) and offensive rebounds (26).
Tre King is one of four Cyclones averaging double-figures, as the senior chips in 11.2 points per contest.
- Against DePaul, King tallied an Iowa State high of 24 points, going 10-15 from the field.
- Over his last four contests, King is averaging 16.5 points per game.
Jackson Paveletzke, Curtis Jones, Demarion Watson and Omaha Biliew make up the bench unit for the Cyclones.
- C. Jones has settled in lately, as he's averaging 10.6 points on 52.8 percent shooting from the floor and 47.8 percent from deep over the last five games.
  - C. Jones had an ISU-best 22 points against PVAMU, going 6-of-8 from deep.
- Paveletzke recorded his most points in an ISU uniform last time out, tallying 13 points and going 3-of-4 from deep.
As a head coach, Otz is 149-92 overall and has led the Cyclones to a 50-29 record over the last three seasons.

From the Notes:

Iowa State is 34-8 in games at Hilton Coliseum and is 33-7 in non-conference contests under Otzelberger. Otz is undefeated against non-conference opponents at home.
As of Wednesday, Dec. 20, the Cyclones are ranked No. 6 in the NET. The Cyclones slot in at No. 11 in the KenPom rankings and are No. 6 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index.
Iowa State and Eastern Illinois are meeting for the fourth time today. ISU holds the series advantage, 3-0, with all three previous matchups coming in Ames.
Both Lipsey and Gilbert have scored in double figures in 10 of the 11 contests this season.
The Cyclones are 20-1 under T.J. Otzelberger when four or more players score in double figures.
Iowa State scored over 85 points in the first four games of the season. It's the first time the Cyclones did so in four-straight games since February 2016 and the first time doing so in the first four games of the year since 1987-88.
The Cyclones have scored 90 or more points five times this season. It is the most times hitting that mark in a season since the 2016-17 team did so eight times.
Iowa State had double digit steals in each of the first four games this season. It's the first time since the 2016-17 season the Cyclones have done so in four-straight games.
Iowa State's 24-straight victories at home against non-conference opponents is the 13th-longest in the nation. It is the fourth-longest streak in school history.

Switching Sides:

Eastern Illinois was voted to finish last out of 11 in the Ohio Valley Conference by the league's head coaches and communication directors.
The Panthers will wrap up non-conference play against ISU, looking to take a winning record into OVC action for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
Through 12 games, Eastern Illinois leads the OVC in steals, averaging 8.5 per contest. EIU led the OVC last year and set a school record with 260 in the season.
Bench production has been a bright spot for EIU, as it currently ranks 30th in the nation with 31.1 points per game.
This is the ninth straight season that the Panthers have been scheduled to play on December 21. Last year, EIU defeated Iowa on the road to wrap its non-conference slate, 92-83, on Dec. 21.
EIU has six returners from last season, one freshman and eight first-year transfers on the roster.
Nakyel Shelton – a three-time transfer – is tied for the team lead in scoring and is second in rebounds per contest.
- He's scored 20-plus points in three games this season and has recorded double-digit scoring outputs six times.
Jordan "Tiger" Booker – a four-time transfer – is also tied for the team lead in scoring (11.5) but has missed four contests on the season.
As of Wednesday morning, Eastern Illinois is ranked No. 325 in the NET, No. 326 in KenPom and No. 268 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index.
Eastern Illinois head coach Marty Simmons is in his third season coaching the Panthers and owns a 20-54 record. He has previous head coaching stops at Wartburg (1996-97), SIUE (2002-07) and Evansville (2007-18), owning an overall coaching record of 303-301.

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Players Mentioned

Omaha Biliew

Keshon Gilbert

Curtis Jones

Robert Jones

Tre King

Tamin Lipsey

Milan Momcilovic

Jackson Paveletzke

Hason Ward

Demarion Watson

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