KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Iowa State had already emerged from the wilderness.
Back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths and a Sweet 16 repaired much of the damage inflicted by the worst season in program history that proceeded it. Cyclone basketball’s reputation was restored.
Iowa State hadn’t, though, quite returned to the former glory of the preceding decade, when the Cyclones were a national contender, winning titles and possessing real Final Four aspirations.
The Cyclones were a good story under head coach T.J. Otzelberger, but not much more across the national landscape.
That changed Saturday night when Iowa State emphatically and triumphantly announced itself as undoubtedly one of the country’s best teams.
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The No. 8 Cyclones completely dismantled Houston, the country’s top-ranked team and regular-season conference champion, in a 69-41 victory to claim the Big 12 Tournament championship.
“The ceiling is the best team in the country,” point guard Tamin Lipsey said of the Cyclones. “Obviously, we just took down Houston, who was the previous No. 1 in the country. Obviously, our goal is a national championship.
“We know that there’s a lot more to go in March.”
Iowa State had three players finish in double figures, led by Milan Momcilovic’s 18 points. Keshon Gilbert added 16 points while Hason Ward posted 13.
Gilbert was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
The Cyclones shot 50% from the floor on the night and 41% from beyond the arc on 9-for-22 shooting. Otzelberger’s crew held a potent Houston offense to just 27% shooting from the floor and a measly 18% (4-for-22) from long range.
The victory makes the 2-22 team Otzelberger inherited seem like a bad dream from long ago. It is an echo of the best stretch of Iowa State basketball in history, when the Cyclones went to seven NCAA Tournaments in eight years, made two Sweet 16s and won four Big 12 Tournaments.
This team, by beating a Houston squad that spent the last two months steamrolling the Big 12, has the potential to do what none of those could, however.
Go even further in the NCAA Tournament.
“We put a lot of people on notice,” senior Tre King said.
The Cyclones were tough, more physical and better defensively than the Cougars, who had won 11 straight games and their last three by an average of 22 points. That pushes Iowa State to the forefront of the national conversation at the exact right time.
Iowa State is Final Four good.
“We played to our identity,” Otzelberger said. “We defended. We rebounded. We shared the basketball.
“That’s what we’ll continue to do.”
Now, the world is watching. And it should know what the Cyclones are capable of achieving.
“I hope so,” senior Robert Jones said, “and if they don’t (know what ISU is capable of), they’re a fool.”
Up next
Iowa State will learn its NCAA Tournament particulars in less than 24 hours.
The Cyclones are expected to land as a No. 2 seed at the Omaha site by most bracket pundits, but it won’t be official until the Selection Show on CBS at 5 p.m. Sunday.
This will mark the third straight season Iowa State has made the NCAA Tournament in Otzelberger’s three seasons. The Cyclones reached the Sweet 16 in 2022, and they were upset in the first round last season.
Travis Hines covers Iowa State University sports for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him at @TravisHines21.
First appeared on www.desmoinesregister.com