Iowa State Basketball vs. Southern Miss: 3 Players To Watch

The Iowa State Cyclones did not play well in their season opener against the Memphis Tigers at the Sanford Pentagon, losing 80-76.

Iowa State is now coming back home to Hilton Coliseum seeking their first win of the season, hosting the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. This starts a three-game stretch where the Cyclones are going to be sizable favorites in each contest in preparation for the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.

After such a disappointing performance against Memphis, there are a few players who will be motivated to turn things around and get back on track. Here are three players to keep an eye on in the matchup.

Jamarion Batemon

There isn’t a player who was more disappointed in their performance in Game 1 than Jamarion Batemon. The sophomore guard, who is in line for a much larger role in Year 2 in Ames, had a dud in the opener.

He was scoreless, missing all six shots he attempted, including four 3-pointers. Certainly not the kind of start the team wants to see from the player who is helping take over the role of Milan Momcilovic, who had a historic 3-point shooting campaign in 2025-26.

Can he find his rhythm in the second game of the season? Being in the friendly confines of Hilton Coliseum will certainly help. Pressure will start to mount against him, especially if Ryan Prather Jr. continues his hot shooting start; this starting lineup needs a reliable 3-point shooter and Otzelberger is giving Batemon the first shot at it.

Isaac Taveras

Chandler Watts is a name to know in the Sun Belt. Really physical 6’6 wing who can slash, defend and has great hands. Such an underrated guard skill.

Intrigued by Southern Miss this year with preseason POY Isaac Taveras. pic.twitter.com/tP0cEwbztW
— JPR (@Scouting_Col) October 22, 2026

In the season opener, Iowa State struggled on the defensive end. Memphis’s backcourt was able to generate a lot of success, and the Cyclones failed to register a single kill, which is three consecutive stops on the defensive end.

The player who will be at the top of the team’s game plan to stop is guard Isaac Taveras. He is predicted to be the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year. With the current state of college basketball, the entire conference has been ravaged by transfers, but Taveras is a top returnee.

After averaging 15.3 points per game last season with 6.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 2.2 steals in 25.8 minutes per game. In the opener, he scored 12 points with nine rebounds and two assists in a lopsided game against the Tougaloo Bulldogs.

Dominykas Pleta

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Jaquan Johnson and Dominykas Pleta talk Southern Miss#Cyclones | #C5C https://t.co/iujIPcd7YT
— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) November 5, 2026

One of the standouts from the opener against the Tigers was their returning big man. Dominykas Pleta is back for Year 2 with the Cyclones and he had a monster game against Memphis.

In only 12 minutes off the bench, he scored 15 points with three rebounds and one assist. His role should grow as the season moves along, especially if he continues showing this kind of aptitude offensively to be paired alongside another big man.

Pleta is poised for a breakout campaign given the improvements he has shown on the court, and continuing his strong start against Southern Miss would be a nice step in the right direction.

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