— Desperation breeds exasperation.
Cincinnati exhibited both emotional elements Saturday at No. 10 Iowa State, which took advantage of an ill-timed technical foul and surged to an 81-70 win before a sold-out and amped-up crowd of 14,267 at Hilton Coliseum.
“It was big time when you can just get free points, and the ball back, and then we score as well,” said guard , who led the Cyclones (20-5, 10-4) with 22 points and shot 12-for-12 from the foul line. “That’s five points that I don’t want to say we got given, but that we’ll take, I say, and that goes a long way in a close game.”
The sequence Jones spoke of came when the Bearcats (15-10, 5-9) pulled within four, at 63-59, with 6:55 left. Tension roiled Hilton — and Cincinnati head coach vociferously protested a no-call on ISU’s subsequent possession. Officials assessed him a technical foul and Jones sank two free throws before notching an assist on one of ’s two 3-pointers. Point guard then turned a steal into fast break lay-up and the Cyclones’ lead swelled to 11 — and they maintained at least a two-possession lead the rest of the game.
A total of five technical fouls were called in the game, and two Cyclones — guard and center — were each whistled for one.
“We play in a physical league,” said ISU head coach , whose team improved to 3-0 since Momcilovic returned to the lineup after missing nearly a month with a hand injury. “We play physical teams. We know what we sign up for. It’s not any one on our team’s responsibility or task to handle that, whether it’s with officials or another player.”
The Cyclones outscored the Bearcats 26-to-9 from the free throw line, and shot a season-best 86.7 percent (26 of 30) from the stripe. Cincinnati attempted just 11 free throws and saw a three-game winning streak snapped.
“I thought maybe early if they were gonna call it tight that might favor us because they’re gonna come reaching after the ball,” Miller said. “They come after the basketball as good as anybody in college basketball.”
Instead, ISU attempted 21 foul shots to the Bearcats’ three. But the game was won on the offensive glass, where the Cyclones crafted an edge of 12-to-five, which led to a 17-to-2 advantage in second-chance points.
“Just relentlessly attaching,” said backup big man Brandton Chatfield, who grabbed five of those offensive boards in 16 minutes. “We know that it’s really big and we’re really good at it, and just gotta keep attacking to get that extra possession, and just give us that little extra boost that we may need.”
ISU needed it Saturday as star Cincinnati guard scored 25 points for the second consecutive game. Until Miller’s technical, the Bearcats answered every Cyclone run despite being outrebounded 37-to-19.
“Guys are making those type of effort plays in key moments,” Otzelberger said. “So, again, we take a lot of pride in controlling the paint, (the) foul line, and on the glass. We’re fortunate that over the 40 minutes it wasn’t perfect but we had good moments in those areas.”
The Cyclones turned the ball over 18 times, but outscored Cincinnati 20-to-13 in that area.
“At least we were trying to move the ball,” Jones said. “And when we (were) able to connect on those passes we (were) able to get buckets.”
But?
“We’ve definitely got to clean that up,” Jones added.
Three teammates joined Jones in scoring in double figures — Joshua Jefferson (13 points), Momcilovic (12), and Lipsey (11). Jefferson grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Chatfield and Jones collected six apiece.
“There’s nothing more winning than rebounding,” Otzelberger said. “There’s nothing that translates to success more than rebounding. It’s will and it’s determination.”
