No. 24 Iowa State at No. 20 BYU Primer

Who: No. 24 Iowa State (13-3, 2-1 Big 12) at No. 20 BYU (13-3, 1-2 Big 12)

Where: Marriott Center (17,978) – Provo, Utah

When: Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024 – 8:00 p.m.

Tipping Off: Winners of two straight, freshly-ranked Iowa State will face off with league newcomer BYU in the first leg of a two-game road trip on Tuesday, January 16.

The Cyclones and Cougars will meet for the seventh time on Tuesday and for the first time as members of the Big 12 Conference. The two teams last met in 2013 when No. 21 ISU won on the road, 90-88, thanks to a Daniel Edozie blocked shot in the final seconds. Overall, Iowa State is 6-0 all-time against BYU and is 2-0 in games played in Provo.

Storylines:

Tamin Lipsey continues to make steady improvement for Iowa State, as the former Little Cyclone is averaging a team-best 14.8 points per game. He leads the team in field goals made (81), rebounds (89), assists (90), steals (54) and minutes played.
- 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 freshman campaign, as the rookie from Pewaukee is averaging 13.3 points per game, the second-most on the team.
- Momcilovic has a team-high 33 3-pointers and shoots it at a 41.3% clip.
- 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.
- In last week's outing against No. 2 Houston, Momcilovic was the hero as he scored the final four points for ISU – including a tough baseline turnaround jumper to give the Cyclones a late lead.
UNLV transfer Keshon Gilbert has found his groove for the Cyclones, as the junior from St. Louis is averaging 12.9 points per contest.
- 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.
    - ISU is the only team in the country with two triple-doubles by different players this season.
- Gilbert is second in the Big 12 in free throws attempted (90) and fourth in FT made (64).
  - He is second on the team in both assists (76) and third on the team in steals (28).
- Gilbert has earned two Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors this season, the second-most of anyone in the conference.
- He's recorded a team-best four 20-plus point outings this season, including three in the last seven contests.
Hason Ward has returned to action after missing nine games with an injury and leads the team in field goal percentage, shooting 69.2 percent.
- In his four games back, Ward has scored in double figures three times and has been averaging five rebounds per game.
Robert Jones has taken over the starting five spot after filling in for Ward and has kept the spot after his return.
- Jones leads the team in offensive rebounds and blocks.
Tre King is one of four Cyclones averaging double-figures, as the senior chips in 10.1 points per contest.
- King is tied with Lipsey for the team lead in rebounds with 89
Jackson Paveletzke, Curtis Jones, Omaha Biliew and Demarion Watson make up the bench unit for the Cyclones.
As a head coach, Otz is 153-93 overall and has led the Cyclones to a 54-30 record over the last three seasons.

From the Notes:

The Cyclones finished the non-con, having won 27 straight games against non-conference opponents at Hilton Coliseum, tied for the ninth-longest streak in the nation.
As of Monday, the Cyclones are ranked No. 9 in the NET. The Cyclones slot in at No. 12 in the KenPom rankings and are No. 5 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index.
The Cyclones went 6-0 in the month of December, as Iowa State improved to 16-1 in the month under T.J. Otzelberger. The 16 victories under Otz are tied for the 10th most in the nation in that span.
The Cyclones are 23-1 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.
After taking down No. 2 Houston, Iowa State now owns seven victories over top-10 opponents in the last two seasons – the most of any team.
Coach Otzelberger became the first Cyclones head coach to defeat both the No. 1 and No. 2 team.

Switching Sides:

The Cougars were picked to finish 13th in the Big 12 Preseason Poll and have blown their preseason expectations out of the water.
BYU returned a lot of its production from last season, bringing back 12 athletes from last season's roster.
- The Cougs brought in two freshmen and a pair of first year transfers to round out their 2023-24 roster.
Among the two transfers is former Charlotte big man Aly Khalifa. Khalifa leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio and has been a dynamic play initiator out of the high post.
- BYU is one of the best in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, spearheaded by Khalifa.
- The team has 10 20-plus assist games so far this season.
BYU ranks top nationally in 3-pointers per contest, averaging 12.4 per game.
- The Cougars are one of just two teams in the country averaging at least 12 3-pointer per game.
The Cougars have been solid analytically this season, as evident by its No. 5 ranking in the NET. The team is also ranked highly in KenPom (11) and in ESPN's BPI (12).
BYU head coach Mark Pope is in his fifth season as the leader of the Cougar basketball program and has led the team to a 100-44 record during that span
- Prior to BYU, Pope coached Utah Valley for four seasons and owns an all-time coaching record of 177-100.

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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

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics