ST. LOUIS — Iowa State insists it has enough to claim a ticket to the Sweet 16, but No. 7 seed Kentucky already delivered a dose of March magic.
The Cyclones (28-7) scored 108 points and won their first-round matchup with Tennessee State despite losing All-American forward Joseph Jefferson to a left ankle injury. Coach T.J. Otzelberger anticipates the performance becoming the blueprint for winning without Jefferson, a point forward who led the team in assists entering the tournament.
“Right now we’re continuing to evaluate,” Otzelberger said Saturday of Jefferson’s status for the second round. “It appears unlikely. But you never want to rule anything out. So we’ll just continue to do what we can in his best interest and we’ll be prepared to go either way.”
Kentucky (22-13) snuck past Santa Clara in one of the few scintillating moments of the first round. Otega Oweh banked a 40-footer as the game ended to force overtime, and the Wildcats overwhelmed the Broncos in the extra session. Oweh had 35 points in the 89-84 win but needed 24 shot attempts and 10 free throws to get there. He has eight 20-plus point games since Feb. 17 and the reputation as a player who can be a heartbreaker if the Cyclones let him get heated up.
“He’s a relentless competitor, really gifted in space, gets into the paint, gets to the foul line, makes plays for himself and his teammates. Just a dynamic scorer,” Otzelberger said, recalling matchups with Oweh during his Oklahoma days. “It’s definitely not a task for one person. It’s a team defense thing, and it’s being intentional. It’s trying to be back in transition, keep him out of space and then make sure that he has to work and earn everything.”
Dominick Nelson became a critical piece of the Cyclones’ rotation without Jefferson. He was impactful on both ends with nine points in support of whirlwind guard Killyan Toure, who scored 25 points with 11 rebounds and six assists in the first round.
“I think he did a great job in terms of his readiness and stepping in yesterday and not really knowing what was coming his way,” Otzelberger said of Nelson, who fell out of the rotation when injured point guard Tamin Lipsey returned to the lineup after missing four weeks. “And I think earlier in the year when minutes, when we cut to eight in the rotation, he’s shown tremendous character. He stayed ready.”
Iowa State’s dynamic guards can tax an undisciplined defense and forward Milan Momcilovic, nearly automatic from 3-point range, requires a shadow defender the moment he crosses halfcourt.
“They earn him a lot of shots with their pace. They earn him shots with actions,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. “He earns himself shots by being an elite level screener and a relocator. So it’s gotta be a little bit of a team effort.”
Pope could make major adjustments for the second round, especially after Santa Clara hit 12 3-pointers and found space with a simple pick-and-roll early in the play clock in the second half. The Wildcats began switching late in the game and overtime. It’s not a switch many coaches can pull, using a 6-foot-10, 250-pound forward to harass point guards into forced shots. But Brandon Garrison, who had two blocks in overtime, and 6-7 Mouhamed Dioubate (three blocks, one steal on Friday) made a massive difference down the stretch on both ends of the floor.
“When BG plays well, we win,” Pope said. “That’s it.”
Pope would like to lean on Garrison and Dioubate for more offense, even if only using the entry passes to the post to invite Iowa State to crash and leave Oweh, Collin Chandler or Denzel Aberdeen open to pull from deep. Chandler, arguably the best pure shooter on the Wildcats’ roster, shot 11.1 percent from 3-point range against Santa Clara. He’s just 6-of-28 from 3 in March. Aberdeen was 4-of-8 from 3-point range against Santa Clara.
“They make it really difficult because they’ll come double team every single post catch,” Pope said of Iowa State, which thrives on forcing turnovers. “So sets make that complicated. But our guys are elite-level passers, so I think we’ll have some play there.”
The winner of Sunday’s game plays in Chicago on Friday in the Midwest Region semifinal, facing the winner of No. 6 Tennessee and No. 3 Virginia. Tennessee beat Kentucky in the Sweet 16 in Indianapolis last year.
