Iowa State had no trouble with the Lipscomb in their first-round matchup of the NCAA Tournament, cruising to an 82-55 win on Thursday afternoon.
With the win, Iowa State (25-9) moves on to the Round of 32 and will face the winner of Ole Miss-North Carolina on Sunday.
Here are a few thoughts on the game and what it means for the Cyclones moving forward.
Joshua Jefferson’s Incredible Day
If Iowa State is going to make a deep run in this tournament, they’re going to need Joshua Jefferson to be special. On Friday, he was just that. With Keshon Gilbert out for the rest of the year, the Cyclones’ offense stepped up in a big way, and Jefferson was a major part of that, turning in an incredibly well-rounded performance with 10 points, nine rebounds, and a season-high eight assists.
Four players ended with double digits, with Milan Momcilovic leading the way with 20 points, followed by 17 points from Curtis Jones, 10 from Jefferson, and 10 from Tamin Lipsey. It was a balanced attack from the Cyclones, but it all comes back to Jefferson, who continues to be the anchor of this team down the stretch.
Utter Statistical Dominance
Sometimes, the box score can tell a confusing story for a game. That wasn’t the case in this one, as the stat sheet does a great job at painting the picture of just how dominant Iowa State was against Lipscomb. The offense was spectacular, shooting 58.3% from the floor, and pouring in a whopping 50 points in the paint and 23 points off of Lipscomb turnovers.
Defensively, the Cyclones put the clamps down on the Bison, holding them to a season-low 55 points. They held Lipscomb to 19-of-51 from the field and forced 17 turnovers. They won the rebound battle 35-23 and recorded 11 steals. There wasn’t a meaningful statistic in this game that didn’t heavily favor ISU, and that’s exactly what T.J. Otzelberger’s group needed to do to get off to a good start.
What Injuries?
Keshon Gilbert missing the rest of the season brought all kinds of questions about Iowa State’s chance of making a run. This kind of performance not only answered those questions, it probably made a lot of people wish they could go back and change the way they looked at the Cyclones when filling out their brackets.
If the version of Iowa State that we saw today is what we’re going to get the rest of the way, it’s going to be hard to see them not getting to the Sweet Sixteen and probably even further.
What’s Next?
Iowa State will get off tomorrow and face the winner of North Carolina and Ole Miss on Sunday, March 23.
