Standout point guard Tamin Lipsey is expected to sit out his third straight game when No. 10 Iowa State faces Alcorn State on Wednesday night at Ames, Iowa.
The Cyclones (7-0) figure to have an easy time against the beleaguered Braves (1-8) while certainly having an eye on Saturday’s massive showdown at top-ranked Purdue.
So allowing Lipsey to rest his groin injury a few more days appears to be on the agenda.
“He deserves the right to be healthy,” Cyclones coach T.J. Otzelberger told reporters. “He’ll gut it out and he’s tough and he’s shown that over time, but we want him to be back when he can be back playing the way he was playing at such a high level prior to the injury.”
Lipsey averaged 18.4 points, 5.2 assists and 3.2 steals in five games before the injury. He was shooting 50.7% from the field and has just four turnovers.
The Cyclones went 3-0 in three days at the Players Era men’s tournament in Las Vegas while not having Lipsey for the last two games. Iowa State beat then-No. 14 St. John’s 83-82 on Nov. 24 with Lipsey before routing Creighton 78-60 and Syracuse 95-64 without him.
Freshman guard Killyan Toure stepped up with 20 points against Creighton and 19 vs. Syracuse with Lipsey sidelined.
Milan Momcilovic made six 3-pointers and scored 24 points against Syracuse last Wednesday while Joshua Jefferson averaged 16 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in the three games in Las Vegas.
Jefferson had 13 points, 10 assists and six rebounds in the finale against Syracuse. He is averaging 17.6 points, a team-best 7.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists a game.
“Our standard’s always been high for ourselves,” Jefferson told TNT. “We do hard stuff, you know? We’re gonna go out there and try to win every game that we can.”
Momcilovic has drained a team-high 26 3-pointers while averaging 16.9 points per game. He already has made five or more treys three times this season.
“He’s got a tremendous amount of confidence,” Otzelberger said of Momcilovic. “His teammates are looking for him, which is great.”
Alcorn State, meanwhile, has played a tough schedule that includes six road losses by 19 or more points apiece. The Braves lost by 45 points to Minnesota, 32 to Florida State, 26 to LSU, 25 to Louisiana Tech, 20 to Maryland, and 19 to Oklahoma.
After the game at Iowa State, the Braves’ remaining December games will be at Baylor on Dec. 19 and at Ole Miss on Dec. 29.
“I’ve been told by many that we have one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country, which is real challenging for me and our staff and our players,” first-year coach Jake Morton said after a 108-76 loss to Florida State last month.
Morton got his first victory last Friday when the Braves posted an 81-74 win over Indiana State during a four-team event at Louisiana Tech. Alcorn State lost 83-58 to the hosts the following day when Tycen McDaniels scored a team-high 11 points for the Braves.
Shane Lancaster leads the Braves with a 10.9 scoring average and is shooting a stellar 52.9% (18 of 34) from 3-point range. McDaniels and Davian Williams (16 treys, team-best 4.4 rebounds per game) are averaging 9.4 points apiece, and Jameel Morris is at 9.0.
