Iowa State Looks to Flip the Script on Slow Starts Ahead of Cincinnati Clash
The message out of Ames is clear: enough is enough. For a team with Final Four aspirations and a top-five national ranking, the Iowa State Cyclones know they can’t keep spotting opponents early leads and expect to keep winning - especially not in the grind-it-out Big 12.
“We’re gonna nip that in the bud right now,” said forward Joshua Jefferson, voicing what’s become a shared frustration in the Cyclones’ locker room. And he’s not wrong. Through four conference games, Iowa State (16-1, 3-1 Big 12) has made a habit of digging itself an early hole - a habit that caught up to them in a lopsided loss at Kansas.
Now, with a road test looming Saturday against a physical, defense-first Cincinnati squad (9-8, 1-3), the Cyclones are looking to flip the script. The Bearcats might not have the resume of a Kansas, but they bring enough toughness and urgency to make life difficult if Iowa State lets them hang around early.
And that’s been the issue. In all four of their Big 12 games, the Cyclones have trailed by at least five points in the first half.
They’ve been behind at the under-16 timeout in three of those, and they’ve yet to lead at the under-12 break in any of them. Outside of the Kansas loss, they’ve managed to regroup and surge back for double-digit wins - but that margin for error won’t always be there.
Head coach T.J. Otzelberger knows it.
He’s seen the trends. And he’s pushing his team to bring more urgency from the opening tip.
“We’re gonna expect them to be desperate, urgent, physical,” Otzelberger said of Cincinnati. “Doing everything they can to disrupt Milan [Momcilovic] - all the same things that we’re seeing, so we need to be better and more intentional from the start.”
The Cyclones’ early-game struggles have been multi-layered. Opponents are attacking the paint early, challenging Iowa State’s pressure defense and forcing them into uncomfortable spots. Otzelberger admits his team can be “predictable” defensively - which isn’t necessarily a bad thing when you’re ranked fourth nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom - but it does make them vulnerable to well-scripted early possessions.
“We’re pretty good at what we do,” Otzelberger said. “But if the other team comes out and they have scripted three or four things right away to do, that can put us in some challenging positions defensively. And through the first four league games, at least three of them, they’ve been able to capitalize and get up to a lead.”
There’s also the matter of rebounding and turnovers. The Cyclones have struggled on the offensive glass early in games and have been a little too loose with the ball. But those issues have tended to correct themselves as the game wears on - a testament to the team’s ability to adjust and settle in.
Otzelberger believes the solutions are within reach. It’s not about reinventing the wheel - it’s about tightening up the details and bringing their trademark intensity from the jump.
“If we do a great job commanding the ball and going to the offensive glass, our offense will be better,” he said. “If we’re great defensively bringing all of our effort and execution right away, that will shore things up there.”
The good news for Iowa State? There’s still time.
The season’s far from over, and the Cyclones are still sitting at 16-1 with one of the most efficient defenses in the country. The foundation is strong.
Now it’s about building better starts on top of it.
“It’s early, so it’s not too frustrating,” Jefferson said. “We’re gonna be able to learn from it and we’ve been playing well as a team.
So we’re not panicked at all. We’re just gonna continue to fix ourselves and continue to buy into the team.”
That mindset - accountability without panic - is exactly what you want to hear from a group with championship potential. Saturday in Cincinnati, we’ll see if the Cyclones can finally match their second-half dominance with a first-half statement.