Biggest Takeaways for Iowa State Cyclones From Dominant Players Era Festival Showing

The Iowa State Cyclones handled business during the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas this season.

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The Iowa State Cyclones knew that they would face some stiff tests at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. Games were scheduled against the St. John’s Red Storm and Creighton Bluejays, with a potential third matchup awaiting if they played well enough.

While the Cyclones disappointingly didn’t get to play for a championship or in the third-place game, which would have meant more NIL money, they put everyone in the college basketball world on alert with their performance.

Iowa State went 3-0, defeating St. John’s 83-82 on Monday before returning to the court on Tuesday and blowing out Creighton 78-60. On Wednesday, they throttled Syracuse 95-64, leaving Sin City on a high note.

Now 7-0, the team will return to action on Dec. 3 against the Alcorn State Braves at Hilton Coliseum before facing their biggest test of the season to date against the Purdue Boilermakers on Dec. 6.

Before turning attention to those matchups, let’s dive into some of the biggest takeaways for the Cyclones from the Players Era Festival.

Tamin Lipsey’s Health

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The win over the Red Storm was certainly nice for Iowa State, but it came at a cost. Star point guard Tamin Lipsey suffered what was deemed a lower-body injury, injuring his groin.

It isn’t related to the groin injury that he suffered last year, but the team is going to show an abundance of caution with him. He sat out the final two contests of the Players Era Festival and continues to be evaluated.

Resting him against Alcorn State wouldn’t come as much of a surprise to get him as healthy as possible for the big-time matchup in Purdue. The Cyclones looked great without him in the lineup in Las Vegas, but to achieve their ultimate goals, they need him healthy and performing at a high level.

He is averaging 18.4 points, 5.2 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 3.2 steals in 31.4 minutes per game.

Iowa State’s Defense Travels

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Under head coach T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State has been known for its incredible defensive identity. This season, that pressure defense has returned alongside an elite ability to create turnovers. 

Of course, doing it against lower-tier competition is one thing. Doing it against Power Conference competition is another, and the Cyclones have proven they can get the job done no matter the opponent.

The Red Storm were the most successful team on offense, making 43% of their overall shot attempts and 35% from 3-point range with 10 turnovers. The Bluejays and Orange would have killed for those kinds of numbers.

Creighton shot 38% overall and 36% from long range with 17 turnovers. Syracuse was just as inefficient at 39% shooting, 29% from 3-point range and 19 turnovers. This defense is legit.

Killyan Toure Breakout

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There were some incredible individual performances by Iowa State players throughout the three games. Joshua Jefferson was excellent in his homecoming. Milan Momcilovic is a sniper from long range.

But no one broke out as much as freshman guard Killyan Toure. He took the college basketball world by storm with excellent production, not to mention taking over as the lead guard with Lipsey sidelined.

His poise and production as a two-way impact player no one could have seen coming this fast. The backcourt is in good hands this season with him and Lipsey, with Toure looking like everything the program wants when the senior point guard passes on the torch after the season.

Rotation Coming Into Focus

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Depth is a double-edged sword for a head coach. It is nice to have so many players you trust to put into a game. But finding minutes for all of those players to get into a rhythm can be difficult.

Otzelberger has said he plans on continuing to use everyone, but during the Players Era Festival, the long-term rotation for the season is coming into focus. When Lipsey is healthy, Dominick Nelson and Jamarion Batemon may see their roles scaled back a little bit.

They played more in the two games their star was absent from. In the frontcourt, it looks as if Dominykas Pleta has surpassed Eric Mulder in the pecking order. He played double-digit minutes in a game twice in Las Vegas, the first time that has occurred this season.

Mulder does not look to be in the mix right now, playing five combined minutes in three games. Unless Blake Buchanan and Jefferson get into serious foul trouble, he looks to be on the outside looking in of the rotation.