With this time of the year being the time that many non-conference college basketball tournaments are being held, one of the new additions to the field was the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Iowa State Cyclones came out of the Players Era Festival at 3-0, but their overall finish wasn’t exactly as it seemed, prompting head coach TJ Otzelberger to explain the true goal of the team this week, as per Ben Geffner of The Diamondback.
“[Out mindset, mentality – that’s what keeps our focus,” Otzelberger said. “We did a great job of doing that today. That’s really all that matters.”
Despite Iowa State’s undefeated record at the Players Era Festival, the Cyclones finished fifth in the standings because the seeding was determined by point differential and tie-breaker instead of just win-loss record. Certainly not an ideal way of determining finishes, but the Cyclones are a talented team nonetheless.
Iowa State’s final win at the event came against Syracuse whom they dispatched with ease, 95-64. With the win, the Cyclones moved to 7-0 on the season. They were led by 24 points from forward Milan Momcilovic, 19 points from guard Killyan Toure and 13 points from forward Joshua Jefferson.
This is TJ Otzelberger’s fifth season at the helm as head coach of Iowa State. He’s led the Cyclones to a winning record in each of the previous four seasons, and has reached the NCAA Tournament in each of those seasons as well. Last year, Iowa State finished fifth in the Big 12 standings with a 13-7 record. They reached the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament.
