Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series MBB Primer

Who: Iowa State (6-2, 0-0 Big 12) vs. Iowa (5-3, 0-1 Big Ten)

Where: Hilton Coliseum (14,267) – Ames, Iowa

When: Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023 – 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU

Tipping Off: Having spent its last four contests away from Hilton, Iowa State returns to its home court for the start of a five-game homestand where it will square off with the Iowa Hawkeyes in a pivotal Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series matchup.

Iowa State is 1-1 against the Hawkeyes under head coach T.J. Otzelberger. The Cyclones have won nine of the last 10 meetings in Ames, but the series is tied at five apiece across the last 10 outings.

Storylines:

Iowa State enters Thursday's contest coming off of a 19-point win at DePaul Friday night. The Cyclones defeated the Blue Demons to move to 4-0 all-time in the BIG EAST/Big 12 Battle.
- The Big 12 notched its first win in the BIG EAST/Big 12 Battle, as it was previously 0-1-3 in the series.
The Cyclones went 2-2 in their last four outings away from Hilton, earning fourth place at the ESPN Events Invitational before downing DePaul.
Tamin Lipsey has made a sophomore leap for ISU, as the kid from Ames is averaging a team-high 15.1 points per game. Lipsey also leads the team in rebounds, assists, steals and minutes played.
- In his last outing, Lipsey recorded the seventh triple-double in school history, going for 15 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.
  - Lipsey is the first Cyclone since Tyrese Haliburton in 2020 to record a triple-double, and he joins the likes of Monté Morris, Royce White, Jamaal Tinsley, Curtis Stinson and Marc Urquhart as members of the illustrious club.
- Lipsey set a new personal best on Thanksgiving against VCU, scoring 22 points. He then set a personal best for rebounds against No. 12 Texas A&M with 14.
UNLV transfer Keshon Gilbert averages 14.8 points per contest, leading the team in both free throws made (37) and attempted (51).
- Gilbert is second on the team in both assists (29) and steals (16).
- Gilbert earned his first career double-double against VCU on Thanksgiving, dropping 22 points and pulling in 10 boards.
- He, along with Lipsey, are the only Cyclones with multiple 20+-point outings on the season.
Iowa State freshman Milan Momcilovic has had a hot start to his collegiate career, scoring an average of 13.6 points per game.
- Momcilovic has a team-high 21 3-pointers and strokes it at a 44.7% clip.
- He recorded 21 points against Virginia Tech in Florida – a career-high – and is one of four Cyclones to score at least 20 in a game this season.
- Momcilovic is one of three true freshmen nationally to have 21+ three pointers in eight games of play.
Robert Jones has started the last five games after being thrust into the starting lineup after center Hason Ward went down with an injury.
- Jones leads the team in field goal percentage, as the big man is shooting 71.4% from the floor. He also leads the team in blocks with eight.
Tre King is one of four Cyclones averaging double-figures, as the senior chips in 10.1 points per contest.
- In his last outing against DePaul, King tallied an Iowa State high of 24 points, going 10-15 from the field.
Jackson Paveletzke, Curtis Jones and Omaha Biliew make up the bench unit for the Cyclones.
- Paveletzke is coming off his best game as a Cyclone, scoring 11 points on the road against DePaul with six assists.
As a head coach, Otz is 146-92 overall and has led the Cyclones to a 47-29 record over the last three seasons.

From the Notes:

Iowa State is 31-8 in games at Hilton Coliseum and is 30-7 in non-conference contests under Otzelberger.
The Cyclones and Hawkeyes will meet on the hardwood for the 77th time Thursday evening.
- The teams have met 24 times since the year 2000 and each side has 12 wins across that stretch.
Momcilovic, Lipsey and Gilbert have all scored in double figures in 7-of-8 games this season.
Iowa State scored over 85 points in the first four games of the season. It's the first time the Cyclones did so in four-straight games since February 2016 and the first time doing so in the first four games of the year since 1987-88.
Iowa State had double digit steals in each of the first four games this season. It's the first time since the 2016-17 season the Cyclones have done so in four-straight games.
Iowa State's Cade Kelderman and Omaha Biliew won a state championship with Waukee in 2021 along with Iowa's Payton and Pryce Sandfort before the school split into Waukee and Waukee Northwest.
Otzelberger is 1-1 in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series as a head coach.
- The home team has won each of the previous matchups.

Switching Sides:

The Hawkeyes were voted ninth out of 14 in the Big Ten preseason media poll.
Iowa has dropped just three contests this season, and all have come to teams that are currently ranked in the AP Top 25 as Purdue (4), Creighton (10) and Oklahoma (19) all found themselves a part of Monday's updated votes. All three games were also either on a neutral court or on the road.
McCaffery's squad has done a really good job taking care of the ball this season, as the Hawkeyes have the third highest assist/turnover ratio in the country (2.08).
Iowa averages the tenth fewest turnovers in the country (8.9 per game) and scores the 12th most points per game (87.9) which leads the Big Ten.
- Four Hawkeyes average double figures in scoring.
The Hawkeye roster consists of two first-year transfers, four freshmen and 10 returners.
- One of the transfers, Ben Krikke, came to Iowa after earning All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team honors last season with Valparaiso.
  - Krikke leads the team in scoring and steals.
- The Hawkeyes return three prominent players from last year's squad with Payton Sandfort, Patrick McCaffery and Tony Perkins.
Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery is in his 28th season as a college head coach and his 14th at Iowa. All time, McCaffery owns a 517-356 coaching record and is 266-179 with the Hawkeyes.
- Before Iowa, McCaffery served as the head coach for Siena, UNC Greensboro and Lehigh.

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Players Mentioned

Omaha Biliew

Keshon Gilbert

Curtis Jones

Robert Jones

Cade Kelderman

Tre King

Tamin Lipsey

Milan Momcilovic

Jackson Paveletzke

Hason Ward

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics