No. 3 Iowa State vs. Omaha Primer

Who: No. 3 Iowa State (8-1, 0-0 Big 12) vs. Omaha (4-8, 0-0 Summit)

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

When: Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024 – 12 p.m. CT

Watch/Listen: CBS Sports Network / Cyclone Radio Network

Tipping Off: Fresh off a come-from-behind Cy-Hawk victory over in-state rival Iowa, the Cyclones return to Hilton Coliseum for their penultimate non-conference game. ISU will take a five-game winning streak into Sunday, the 17th-longest in the nation, which features two wins in Maui, a top-five victory over Marquette and a win over Jackson State.

On Thursday, Iowa State erased a 13-point first half deficit to rally past Iowa in the second stanza, winning its second straight game against the Hawkeyes. The ISU win was the first in Carver-Hawkeye Arena since 2014 and was T.J. Otzelberger's third win as Cyclone head coach over the Hawks.

Just 2-8 in its last ten games, Omaha comes to Ames after a Friday night matchup with UNI in Cedar Falls. On the final leg of a three-game road trip, the Mavericks look to right the ship against the Cyclones. In its last nine games against ranked opponents, Omaha is 0-9 with losses coming by an average of 37.6 points.

Storylines:

Iowa State rose to number three in the AP Poll this week, tying a program record for highest ranking ever.
- On Thursday, ISU played its first game as an AP Top 3 ranked team since Jan. 28, 1957.
- The Cyclones are now 21-8 playing as a team ranked in the Top 5 in the country. ISU's game against No. 4 Auburn was just the second Top 5 matchup in program history and the first since 1997.
Through nine contests, sixth-man Curtis Jones is proving why he's one of, if not the, premiere sixth-man in the country as he leads the team in scoring with 17 points.
- In his last 27 contests where he has come off the bench, Jones has finished with double figure points 25 times.
- Jones leads the team in field goals (53) and 3-pointers (28).
- Over the last two seasons, Jones has come off the bench 43 times. He's averaged 12.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 steals in those games. He's the only player in the country to come off the bench more than 40 times and average double-digit points.
Keshon Gilbert, along with Jones, has been dynamite on offense to start the season. He's second on the team in points, averaging 16.4 per game.
- Gilbert leads the team in assists, free throws made and minutes played.
- He's scored 20-plus points in three of his last six outings.
- Gilbert earned back-to-back Big 12 Player of the Week awards, following his performances in Maui and then last week against No. 5 Marquette.
Tamin Lipsey has been the ideal glue guy and role player for the Cyclones, as he's settled into a nice complimentary role early in his junior year.
- Lipsey had his best game of the season last time out against Iowa, burying three triples, earning three steals and pulling down six boards.
- He leads the team in steals, averaging 2.6 per game.
- Lipsey was an AP Honorable Mention All-American last season, as well as a First Team All-Big 12 member and a member of the league's All-Defensive Team.
Joshua Jefferson leads the team in rebounds, averaging eight per contest, and he scores 11.3 points per game.
- Like Lipsey, Jefferson is coming off his best game against Iowa where he fell three assists shy of a triple double (19 pts, 10 reb, 7 ast).
- Jefferson has notched three-straight double-doubles and now has four on the year.
  - The last Cyclone with three straight double-doubles was Nick Weiler-Babb in 2018.
Sophomore wing Milan Momcilovic averages 11.7 points per game and shoots the 3-ball at the highest clip on the team at whopping 46.7 percent.
- Momcilovic tied a personal best in Maui, canning six triples against Colorado as he went on to earn a career-high 24 points.
Dishon Jackson has been a steady force in the paint for the Cyclones this season, averaging 11.3 points and pulling down 5.6 rebounds.
- He leads the team in blocks (8) and is one of five Cyclones to average double-figure scoring.

From the Notes:

As a head coach, Otz is 177-99 overall and has led the Cyclones to a 78-36 record over the last four years.
- ISU is 50-8 in games at Hilton Coliseum under Otzelberger.
Under Otz, ISU is 45-9 in non-conference games. The 45 wins are tied for the seventh-most in the nation and the .833 winning percentage is the sixth-best.
Coach Otzelberger is the only Iowa State men's basketball coach to take multiple teams to the Sweet 16.
- He was the 51st coach in NCAA Division I history to take a team to the Sweet 16 twice in his first three years on the job.
- Otz will attempt to become the first coach in program history to take a team to the NCAA Tournament in his first four years as coach.
Iowa State has won 23-straight home games at Hilton Coliseum, tied for the fifth-longest active home winning streak in the country.
Iowa State has been ranked in the Top 15 for 15-straight weeks. That is the fourth-longest streak in the country and the longest in the Big 12. The Cyclones have been ranked in the AP Top 10 for 13-straight weeks, the only school in the nation to be ranked for double-digit consecutive weeks.
Four Cyclones have scored in double figures in eight of ISU's nine contests this season.
- The Cyclones are 38-2 under T.J. Otzelberger when four or more players score in double figures.
Coach Otzelberger currently holds the Iowa State career winning percentage record, having won .684 of his games.
Iowa State has scored at least 80 points in all nine games this season. It is the first time ISU has scored 80-plus points in nine-straight games since the first nine games of the 1987-88 season.
- That team also started the season 8-1.
The Cyclones are ranked No. 6 in the NET. Iowa State slots in at No. 6 in the KenPom rankings and is No. 7 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index.

Switching Sides:

This will be the ninth all-time meeting between Iowa State and Omaha and the first since 2018. ISU is 6-2 against the Mavs all-time and 6-1 in Ames.
- The Cyclones have won five straight against the Mavericks.
- Both of Omaha's wins came in the 70s (1975 & 1979).
The Mavericks were picked to finish eighth out of nine in the Summit League Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, as voted on by the League's head coaches, sports information directors and select media members.
Omaha's Marquel Sutton, who leads the team in points and rebounds, was voted to the Preseason All-Summit League Second Team.
- Sutton has five 20-plus point outings this season and ten in his career.
- One of three team captains, Sutton was named the Summit League Player of the Week on Nov. 25 for two consecutive double-doubles.
Omaha returned eight players from last year's team which finished 15-18, but lost Second Team All-Summit League forward Frankie Fidler who transferred to Michigan State.
- The Maverick roster consists of those eight returners, six first-year transfers as well as two freshmen. First-year transfers Lance Waddles and Josh Streit came to Omaha from North Dakota State.
Omaha Head Coach Chris Crutchfield is in his third year at the helm of the Maverick program.
- Crutchfield is 28-49 with UNO and is 38-58 overall in his four-year head coaching career which began at East Central.
- Crutchfield is a UNO graduate and played football and basketball for the Mavs.
- Crutchfield was the Associate Head Coach for Lon Kruger at Oklahoma but was 0-8 in Ames during that time (2011-19).
Omaha is ranked No. 282 in the NET. The Mavs are No. 292 in KenPom and No. 291 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index.

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Players Mentioned

Keshon Gilbert

Dishon Jackson

Joshua Jefferson

Curtis Jones

Tamin Lipsey

Milan Momcilovic

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics