Iowa State in search of ‘aggressive’ offense ahead of UCF showdown

No. 3 Iowa State’s nation-leading winning streak came to an end on Saturday after the Cyclones fell to West Virginia on the road. ISU was caught by the Mountaineers’ defensive aggressiveness, and the team doesn’t want to make the same mistake twice.

The Cyclones scored a season-low 57 points on Saturday night, shooting its lowest 3-point figure of the season and turning the ball over 14 times. Iowa State has thrived on catching opponents with its intensity early, but the team wasn’t able to find its usual advantage over West Virginia.

“I believe in the philosophy that everybody has a plan until you get punched in the mouth,” head coach T.J. Otzelberger said on Monday. “We can punch in the mouth by driving the ball to the paint. If you collapse the defense and you kick it out, I feel like you’re going to have an aggressive shot. And if you have an aggressive shot, I feel like you’re going to make it.”

The relative passiveness offensively made clean shots more difficult to come by, particularly when Iowa State needed to work back from a deficit midway through the second half. The Cyclones fired from long-range, but couldn’t connect on the necessary shots to pull ahead.

Iowa State shot 1-17 behind the 3-point line, coming off an 8-13 performance beyond the arc against then-No. 9 Kansas. ISU needed a few more makes from deep to fall, and Otzelberger attributes part of that variance to slower offensive tempo.

The ball got stuck a little more often than the Cyclones would prefer, and the lack of movement and over-dribbling resulted in a season-high 14 steals given away. With the ball stagnant and shots not falling, West Virginia’s defense became all the more imposing.

“It’s ultimately our ability to play for one another, get the ball into the paint, collapse the defense and then take the shots that come from it,” Otzelberger said.

Part of that offensive flare was missing with forward Milan Momcilovic on the bench, expected to be out for around a month with a left hand injury. His absence has required other names to step up and fill the long-range shooting demand.

Curtis Jones has been the team’s most reliable shooter from distance, hitting six triples over the past two games. ISU will also count on the likes of Tamin Lipsey, Keshon Gilbert and Nate Heise to connect from the 3-point line as well.

Heise, in particular, has a history of a strong shooting touch but hasn’t found a rhythm in conference play. The Cyclones have instructed him to keep firing as ISU looks to respond offensively.

“Just talking to people, they all have confidence in me,” Heise said. “So continuing to shoot with confidence and I think it will turn around.”

UCF is coming off a hard-fought performance against then-No. 10 Houston, taking the Cougars down to the wire in Orlando. The Knights’ size and athleticism impacted Houston and made it difficult for one of the top teams in the conference to hit key shots.

Iowa State knows it will get UCF’s best shot, too. But as the team looks to bounce back after just the second loss of the year, the Cyclones are prepared for the punch.

“I feel like we’re built for it,” Gilbert said. “Obviously, we’re a real good team, top-5 in the nation. So just knowing that everybody is gonna come out with something to prove, everybody is gonna come out with their best punch. So just being prepared for that every night, night in and night out is real big for us.”