T.J. Otzelberger Challenging Iowa State Cyclones Freshman After Career Game

An Iowa State Cyclones player is being challenged by head coach T.J. Otzelberger after a great performance.

Dec 29, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger watches his team play the Houston Christian Huskies during the second half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones picked up another dominant victory in their most recent game against the Colorado Buffaloes.

Iowa State got off to a hot start and rode that right through the end to a 97-67 blowout. It was the third win in a row for the team, bouncing back in a major way after losing their first two games of the season.

The Cyclones received excellent performances from several players on the team, with six players scoring in double figures. Freshman Jamarion Batemon led the way off the bench with 17 points.

Another player off the bench who scored in double figures was fellow freshman Dominykas Pleta. He made all four of his shot attempts and free throws in the game en route to 12 points to go along with six rebounds.

Dominykas Pleta has career game against Colorado

Jan 29, 2026; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Dominykas Pleta (21) looks to dunk during the first half of their game with the Colorado Buffaloes at James H. Hilton Coliseum. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

It was the most productive game of his young career thus far. The point scored tied a single-game high and the six rebounds were the most he has grabbed, along with the four offensive rebounds.

Head coach T.J. Otzelberger was certainly thrilled to see one of his players performing so well. He will praise Pleta for his production against Colorado, but has also issued his freshman big man a challenge.

“Pleta (Dominykas Pleta) to be honest, like the last couple of days, and even last week or so, we've really been after him. He's capable of what he did tonight. And as much as we're going to celebrate what he did tonight and tell him it's great, we're going to expect that he does it again someday. It's not an outlier, it's not a, 'Hey, he'll do that once a month,’” the head coach said, via Alec Busse of Cyclone Alert, part of the 247Sports Network.

As the season has moved along, Pleta has looked more and more comfortable on the court. In turn, the confidence that the coaching staff has in him has seemingly risen as well.

Next step for Dominykas Pleta is consistency

Iowa State Cyclones forward Dominykas Pleta (21) rebounds the ball around Colorado Buffaloes forward Bangot Dak (8) during the first half in the Big-12 men’s basketball on Jan. 29, 2026, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The 16 minutes of action he received against the Buffaloes were also a career high. It was the third consecutive game that he has played double-digit minutes, the first time that has happened since Nov. 26 through Dec. 29, when he did it in five straight contests.

“We need that level of production. He's a really good player. He's very physical. He goes to the boards with force. And now we're looking for a level of consistency for that to happen every single time he plays,” Otzelberger added.

Pleta isn’t going to score 12 points and grab six rebounds off the bench every game. But what the coaching staff wants to see is that his level of activity and his motor remain consistent every time he takes the court.

He is a key part of the team’s rotation coming off the bench, getting better each time he steps on the court. His physicality and presence on the interior help maintain the team’s level of performance even when Blake Buchanan is on the bench.