KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger clearly made a business decision entering Thursday’s Big 12 Tournament game against the BYU Cougars.
That was apparent the first time he subbed in players in the first half. He subbed in Cade Kelderman and Brandon Chatfield. He did not sub in Tamin Lipsey.
The junior guard was available for Thursday’s game, even though he was nursing a groin injury he suffered on Wednesday. He was uniform. He went through warm-ups. But, when the starting lineup was set, he wasn’t it. Every time Otzelberger subbed, Lipsey stayed seated next to guard Keshon Gilbert, who had already been ruled out.
Neither played. And, yet, the No. 5 seeded Cyclones (24-9) nearly won anyway, falling to No. 4 seed BYU (24-8), 96-92, for the second time in the last 10 days.
Otzelberger said that Lipsey is one of those players that has played with more nagging injuries than he could count. In those situations, Otzelberger and the medical staff will ask Lipsey if he’s good to go and he says yes.
But, this time, Otzelberger said he detected hesitancy from Lipsey for the first time since he’s coached him.
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“When we talked before the game I could see the hesitancy with him,” he said. “I could see how he felt when we warmed up.”
That made the decision easy for Otzelberger. He said Lipsey got as much treatment as possible between Wednesday and Thursday. But with the NCAA Tournament next week, pushing Lipsey into the lineup wasn’t worth risking.
He said he’s “optimistic” that both will be able to play in the NCAA Tournament, which starts Thursday.
Without Lipsey and Gilbert, Iowa State played an incredible game. The Cyclones shot better than the Cougars, firing 56% for the game to BYU’s 52%. Guard Curtis Jones had an unbelievable game, scoring 31 points and making seven 3-pointers, all of which were in the first half.
Iowa State’s Milan Momcilovic had 18 points. Joshua Jefferson had 14 points and Dishon Jackson had 12 points. The Cyclones only played eight, but seven of them scored.
Everything clicked. And, yes, BYU shot 50% from the 3-point line, only committed 10 turnovers and had their legs under them for the final 10 minutes. The Cougars played 10 and while Richie Saunders had 23 points, three other Cougars were in double figures and he didn’t play a significant role in the first half.
Otzelberger took the cautious path on Thursday. He felt it was the right path. Yes, Iowa State fell on Thursday, but the Cyclones should be better for it in a week — assuming Gilbert and Lipsey are ready to go.
If they are, and Iowa State plays like this, well, falling in the Big 12 quarterfinals will be nothing more than a bump in the road.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
