Five weeks ago, Creighton beat Iowa State 71-58 in a scrimmage in Omaha. Point guard Tamin Lipsey did not play in that game, and after a lower-body injury in yesterday’s win over St. John’s, he’s a game-time decision for today’s game, though it would be mildly surprising if he played. As the Jays know first-hand, ISU is very different without their floor general. He had 16 points, five assists and just one turnover against the Red Storm’s aggressive defense, and his fingerprints were all over the Cyclones’ win even though he was 3-of-11 on two-point shots and 2-of-6 from three.
“Lipsey is one of the best point guards in the country, and he wasn’t in that first game,” McDermott said after yesterday’s win and before news of Lipsey re-injuring himself. “The way their offense runs is at another level. He gives them another great defender on the floor that we’re gonna have to answer to. It’s gonna be a heck of a challenge for us. But I know it’s one we’re excited about.”
Notably, Creighton was without Jackson McAndrew in that one, the first signs of the foot injury that ultimately cost him the rest of the season. The Jays’ 23-0 run in the exhibition, featuring 10 straight defensive stops and a barrage of beautiful offensive execution, came in a first half where they had just one turnover and outscored the Cyclones 46-23. 10 turnovers in the second half played a big role in ISU cutting that huge deficit into single digits. So too did nine offensive rebounds in the second half alone, which ISU turned into 11 second chance points (after just four offensive boards and two second-chance points in the first half).
Figuring out a way to bottle that first half performance and deploy it for the full 40 minutes — or even to split the difference — will be key to the Jays repeating the result on the scoreboard because statistically, nothing they did was unrepeatably great. They were 9-of-30 from three-point range. They had 11 turnovers. They had a good but not great 13 assists on 22 made baskets. And they were outscored 40-26 in the paint.
6’9” senior forward Joshua Jefferson is their leading returning scorer from a year ago after averaging 13.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He tallied 454 points, 259 rebounds, 109 assists, 74 steals and 26 blocks last season, becoming the first Big XII player to record 450+ points, 250+ rebounds, 100+ assists, 70+ steals and 25+ blocks in the same year. Arbitrary cutoffs? Sure. That’s some impressive stat-stuffing nonetheless. He was the only Cyclone in double-figures in the exhibition, scoring 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting with 12 rebounds. He had 17 yesterday against St. John’s with eight rebounds, making 4-of-12 inside the arc and 1-of-2 from three to go along with 6-of-8 at the line.
Fifth-year senior guard Nate Heise, a 6’5” sparkplug who played three years for Ben Jacobson at Northern Iowa before transferring to Iowa State last year, led the Cyclones in three-point shooting percentage (40.9%, 27-of-66) despite a limited role off the bench. He scored four in Omaha and only attempted one 3-pointer in 20 minutes. He was 0-for-3 on threes yesterday, and is 2-of-12 for the season. Here’s hoping his slump continues for one more day.
Junior forward Milan Momcilovic was close behind Heise last year (39.6%, 63-of-159), averaging 11.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Unlike Heise, he’s been red hot this year — yesterday he led the Cyclones with 23 points, making 5-of-9 from three. He’s 18-of-39 from long range for the season through five games (46.2%).
The big concern a day after Baylor destroyed Creighton on the offensive glass to the tune of 22 offensive rebounds and 27 second chance points? Iowa State is even better at it. The Cyclones grabbed 17 offensive rebounds (44.7% of their misses) against a big, physical St. John’s team who had only allowed opponents to grab around 25% of their missed shots coming in.
Do the Jays opt for the small lineup they employed in the second half, where they did almost everything else better (but couldn’t grab an offensive rebound to save their life)? If they roll with Owen Freeman and Kerem Konan for better rebounding, are those lineups able to defend?
Tip: 1:00pm Omaha time
Venue: Michelob ULTRA Arena, Las Vegas, NV
TV: TruTV
Announcers: J.B. Long, Candace Parker and Autumn Johnson
In Omaha: Cox channel 203
Satellite: DirecTV channel 246, Dish Network channel 242
Streaming on HBO Max
Radio: 1620AM, 101.9FM
Announcers: John Bishop and Connor Happer
Streaming on 1620TheZone.com and the 1620 The Zone mobile app
Simulcast on SiriusXM channel 162 or 201 as well as on the SiriusXM App
Live Stats:
Follow along on Stat Broadcast
The Cyclones got big-time mileage from their top-three returners yesterday, as Tamin Lipsey (16, Joshua Jefferson (17) and Milan Momcilovic (23) combined to score 56 of the team’s 83 points. Jefferson finished with a team-high eight boards, while Lipsey dished out a Cyclone-best five assists.
Yesterday’s win was T.J. Otzelberger’s 100th win as the head coach at Iowa State, making him the sixth coach in program history to reach the mark. It was also his 19th win on neutral court, tied for fourth in school history
Creighton has made five or more three-pointers in 76 straight games and six or more triples in 64 consecutive contests
With yesterday’s loss, Creighton fell to 0-3 all-time inside Michelob ULTRA Arena.
Iowa State owns a 17-15 record all-time against Creighton in games that count, splitting two games on a neutral floor. Creighton beat the Cyclones 71-58 on Oct. 17 in Omaha in an exhibition contest. The teams last met in a game that counted on Dec. 4, 2021, when No. 19 ISU won 64-58 at CHI Health Center Omaha.
Greg McDermott is 1-6 in his career against Iowa State in games that count, going 1-4 as UNI head coach and 0-2 as CU head coach against the Cyclones.
Iowa State is favored by 7.5, and KenPom predicts a four-point win. If Tamin Lipsey is able to go, ISU probably gets the win. If not? Creighton evens their mark in the Players Era at 1-1.