The Iowa State basketball team did not look good on Tuesday night as they suffered an upset loss against Oklahoma State. The Cyclones have now lost two games in a row as they fell on the road against Houston before suffering the defeat against the Cowboys. Winning on the road is never easy in college basketball, but Iowa State head coach TJ Otzelberger didn’t think that his team controlled the controllables in the 74-68 loss.
Sometimes, teams lose games despite doing everything right. That wasn’t the case for the Iowa State basketball team on Tuesday night, and TJ Otzelberger called out his team’s effort after the loss.
“We’ve gotta come out and dictate,” Otzelberger said after the game, according to an article from The Gazette. “That’s unacceptable. From how we practice to the demand, the pride we have — credit to Oklahoma State. They did a good job. Unacceptable on our end to not come out and be the tougher, more physical, more aggressive team. That’s not gonna happen again.”
On the bright side, Curtis Jones did return to the lineup for Iowa State against the Cowboys, and he had a good game. He missed the Houston loss due to an illness.
“His urgency, especially late — making shots making plays, getting on the glass, all those things, he’s terrific,” Otzelberger said of Jones. “I’ve gotta do a better job with him of trying to get that same urgency with him right away because I know when the game’s on the line, I know what he’s gonna do. But we’ve gotta have that urgency to start the game because he’s too good of a player and we know what he can do, and I believe in him, and couldn’t have more confidence in him.”
However, the team’s effort as a whole was not up to Iowa State. Otzelberger wants to see the team play with more pride in their next game.
“Hopefully everybody’s available and ready to go, and if they are, everybody needs to take a tremendous sense of pride in the things that go into winning, and those things didn’t show up for us tonight,” Otzelberger said.
The Cyclones will return to action this weekend to take on Arizona. When the two teams met up last time, the Wildcats won in overtime after hitting a ridiculous half-court buzzer beater to tie the game. Iowa State wants revenge.
“We’re gonna come out (Saturday against the Wildcats) definitely with a lot of energy because we’re coming off this loss,” Curtis Jones said. “They beat us in a heartbreaker (in Tucson), so we have no excuse not to come out and give everything.”
With the loss on Tuesday night, the Iowa State basketball team fell to 21-7 overall on the year and 11-6 in Big 12 play. The Cyclones have been one of the best teams in college basketball this year, but they need to get their momentum back before the postseason rolls around. They have three regular season games left.
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