Six-man core sharing spotlight as No. 5 Iowa State faces IU Indy

Most teams rely upon a starting five to lead the way.

No. 5 Iowa State is following a different approach at the start of this season. The Cyclones boast a starting five -- plus one.

"For us, I look at it like we pretty much have six starters," Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said.

Iowa State (2-0) will turn toward its six standouts again Monday evening when it hosts IU Indianapolis (2-2) in Ames, Iowa. The Cyclones are hoping to build upon back-to-back wins over Mississippi Valley State and Kansas City.

Keshon Gilbert, Tamin Lipsey, Dishon Jackson and Joshua Jefferson each have started both games for Iowa State. Milan Momcilovic and Curtis Jones have started one game apiece.

All except for Jefferson are averaging double digits in scoring. Gilbert and Momcilovic are tied for the team lead with 13 points per game, Jones is next with 12.5, Lipsey is averaging 12 and Jackson is averaging 11.

Jefferson is not far behind with 8.0 points per game on 53.8 percent shooting.

No matter who starts against IU Indianapolis, the Cyclones will look to put together another group effort.

"Obviously, everyone likes to be starting, but we have so many guys on this team that if Curt starts for me one night, or whoever starts, it doesn't really matter," Momcilovic said. "We all play the same role. We're all going to get the same minutes, similar minutes, so it doesn't really matter who's out there."

Jones agreed that since everyone is logging playing time, it made little difference to him.

"It's pretty much the same," Jones said. "I've got the same role whether I start or come off the bench and whoever else does too. It's not really a problem. It's just about the productivity you put out there on the court."

IU Indianapolis aims to bounce back from a 74-71 loss against Eastern Michigan on Thursday. The Jaguars have wins over NAIA teams IU Columbus and Goshen, and they've also lost to Xavier.

Paul Zilinskas leads IU Indianapolis with 19.3 points per game on 47.2 percent shooting overall and 48.1 percent shooting from 3-point range. Three others are averaging in double digits: Jarvis Walker (14.8 points per game), Sean Craig (10.5) and Nathan Dudukovich (10.0).

Jaguars coach Paul Corsaro praised his team despite its narrow loss Thursday.

"I've never questioned this team's fight," Corsaro said. "We need to do a better job not spotting that amount in the first half. (There were) a lot of self-inflicted mistakes (Thursday) that unfortunately cost us the game.

"I felt that if we would have controlled the controllables we could have gotten that win. However, I think there's a lot to grow from (Thursday night). I'm proud of our guys' fight and I felt our togetherness. I hate losing, but I know we will grow from this and get better."

Iowa State and IU Indianapolis have played only once before in school history. The Cyclones cruised to an 88-39 home win on Nov. 7, 2022.

--Field Level Media