No. 9 Iowa State hopes to see the return of some reinforcements when it tips off against Oklahoma State in a Big 12 Conference battle on Tuesday evening in Stillwater, Okla.
Iowa State (21-6, 11-5) is coming off a 68-59 loss against No. 5 Houston on Saturday in which it played without key players Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert. Jones, the team’s top scorer, was sidelined by an illness, and Gilbert was ruled out because of a muscle strain.
Cyclones coach T.J. Otzelberger said it was hard to fill the void left by both players. It is possible that one or both of them could return to face Oklahoma State (13-14, 5-11).
“Curt and ‘Key’ mean a lot to our team,” Otzelberger said. “Those guys have been big contributors, leaders, winners. They’ve done so much for us, so to have both of them out is a challenge.
“The thing that I’m most proud of is we didn’t come into (Saturday’s) game feeling like we were a victim. We didn’t come in feeling like we were short-handed or anything like that. We came in with a competitive spirit and a togetherness to do the things we need to do.”
Meanwhile, the Cowboys are bracing for their third matchup against a ranked opponent in the past four games. They are coming off a 96-64 road loss against then-No. 23 Kansas on Saturday.
The Cowboys are 5-3 at home in Big 12 action this season. They are 0-8 on the road.
Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz knows his team needs to excel in both situations.
“Of course, we’d love to get a road win,” Lutz said. “If you’re going to be respectable in this league and have a chance to be in the hunt in this league, you’ve got to be able to win all of them at home, and then you’ve got to be able to get a few on the road. We haven’t done that thus far.”
Jones leads Iowa State with 17.2 points per game on 43.1 percent shooting from the field and 36.8 percent shooting from 3-point range. Gilbert is next with 14.1 points per game, and Joshua Jefferson ranks third with 12.5 points to go along with a team-high 7.7 rebounds per game.
Milan Momcilovic (10.7 points per game) and Tamin Lipsey (10.5) also are averaging in double digits for the Cyclones. Momcilovic is shooting 41.2 percent from beyond the arc.
Oklahoma State’s top scorer is Bryce Thompson, who is averaging 12.4 points per game on 43.7 percent shooting overall and 36.3 percent shooting from long distance. Marchelus Avery ranks second on the team with 12.0 points per game, and Abou Ousmane ranks third with 11.8 points to go along with a team-best 5.3 boards.
The teams faced each other last season in Ames, Iowa, where the Cyclones coasted to a 66-42 victory. Lipsey scored 17 points and tallied five steals to lead Iowa State.
Oklahoma State struggled to keep pace on offense, as it shot 31.9 percent (15 of 47) from the field.
–Field Level Media
