Iowa State Cyclones Offensive Explosion Overwhelms Long Beach State Beach

The Iowa State Cyclones continued their hot start to the season against the Long Beach State Beach.

Iowa State Cyclones forward Milan Momcilovic (22) drives with the ball around Long Beach State guard Gavin Sykes (11) during the first half in the NCAA men’s basketball on Dec. 21, 2025, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Aems Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones were back on the court for their 12th game of the season against the Long Beach State Beach at Hilton Coliseum.

It had been a week since they took the court last, defeating the Eastern Illinois Panthers 78-53 their last time out. A 25-point victory is certainly impressive, but the team’s performance left something to be desired in the opinion of head coach T.J. Otzelberger.

Star forward Milan Momcilovic echoed the sentiments of his head coach. After big games against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena and the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Cyclones didn’t come out with the same effort level against the Ohio Valley Conference squad.

The players heard those criticisms, and after a week of practice, looked a lot more engaged against Long Beach State. Iowa State overwhelmed them from the start, picking up another wire-to-wire victory in a 91-60 win.

Iowa State blows out Long Beach State for 12th win

Iowa State Cyclones forward Killyan Toure (27) shoots the ball around Long Beach State guard Isaiah Lewis (12) during the first half in the NCAA men’s basketball on Dec. 21, 2025, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Aems Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Cylones took control right from the opening tip and never relinquished it. They scored the first four points of the game and opened the contest on a 15-2 run, establishing their dominance right away.

Iowa State got it going on the offensive end right away and never relented. They shot 36 of 65 from the field overall and 11 of 21 from 3-point range.

Leading the way with a game-high 27 points was Milan Momcilovic. He was on fire from long range, knocking down seven of nine attempts and nine of 11 overall. The only other player with multiple 3-point makes was freshman guard Jamarion Batemon off the bench, going two for four. Tamin Lipsey and Joshua Jefferson made one 3-pointer apiece in the game.

While the duo of Momcilovic and Batemon lit it up from long range, the rest of the team dominated on the interior. The Cyclones outscored the Beach 48-32 in the paint.

Iowa State dominates on interior against Long Beach State

Iowa State Cyclones forward Blake Buchanan (23) goes for dunk the ball around Long Beach State forward Petar Majstorovic (6) and guard Isaiah Lewis (12) during the first half in the NCAA men’s basketball on Dec. 21, 2025, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It was Jefferson and Blake Buchanan who did the damage on the inside. They shot a combined 14 of 20, scoring 19 and 13 points, respectively. Both recorded double-doubles, grabbing 13 and 10 rebounds, respectively.

The only area offensively where Iowa State struggled was the foul line. What was an issue early in the season reared its ugly head against Long Beach State, with the Cyclones making only eight of 18 attempts at the charity stripe.

It didn’t cost Iowa State this time around in a blowout, but it will be something that has to improve. As the season moves along and competition increases, shooting 44.4% from the foul line will be costly.