“I’ve been a Cyclone my whole life. However, I just got on the court four years ago,” Lipsey said Wednesday night after a 70-60 win at Baylor. “Watching all those teams grow and realizing that I have the opportunity right now to make a mark for the state of Iowa, and just the Ames community and all that, I never take it for granted.”
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Lipsey scored 24 points, overcoming some early foul trouble that kept him on the bench for nearly eight minutes in the first half. Joshua Jefferson had 19 points and 17 rebounds for Iowa State (15-0, 2-0 Big 12).
The Cyclones’ 15-0 start and 15-game winning streak are school records, surpassing a 14-0 start by the 2013-14 team that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. They are one of six undefeated teams in Division I, along with No. 1 Arizona, No. 2 Michigan, No. 10 Nebraska, No. 11 Vanderbilt and unranked Miami, Ohio.
“I think these guys do a great job of honoring everyone who came before us with the effort and execution that they play with,” Cyclones fifth-year coach TJ Otzelberger said. “So it’s a great achievement. It’s a credit to the young people and the way they work. And hopefully something that previous Cyclones who have been in this program and those who have invested can be tremendously proud of.”
Jefferson, a senior forward and sophomore transfer from Saint Mary’s, already had his sixth double-double of the season at halftime.
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His long three-pointer with 5 seconds left in the first half gave the Cyclones their first lead at 25-24. They never gave up, starting the second half on a 14-1 run as six players scored and Jefferson capped it off with a fastbreak dunk.
“Joshua made a great shot right before the half,” Otzelberger said. “A big momentum play that carried into the second half.”
Lipsey has started all 115 of his games in four seasons with the Cyclones, including three NCAA Tournament appearances and one Sweet 16 in that time. He left after his second foul with 17:12 left in the first half and didn’t return until the 9:19 mark. He finally scored with 6:11 left in the first half, then scored 20 points after halftime.
“I would pick him over any point guard in the United States,” Otzelberger said. “Obviously not having Tamin out there in the first half affected the flow of the game so much. But man, in that second half, the plays he made, the shots he made, it was incredible, especially when you have to recover when your normal routine and the rhythm of a game is interrupted because of fouls.”
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After the Cyclones shot 27.8% from the field (10 of 36) in the first half, they were 57.1% (16 of 28) after halftime.
On the defensive end, they held Baylor to 18.8% (6 of 32) before halftime and 30.6% (19 of 62) overall.
“Iowa State is a really good team. If you ask me, right now, they and Michigan are the two best in college basketball,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “They’re not going to beat themselves. They know exactly where they’re going to be, how they’re going to do things. TJ has done a great job with them.”
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