Milan Momcilovic's career night fuels No. 16 Iowa State's 88-50 season-opening rout of FDU

AMES — Iowa State sharpshooter Milan Momcilovic couldn’t seem to hit a shot in his team’s two official exhibition games.

So once Monday’s actual season opener against Farleigh Dickinson swung into view, he shrugged off those struggles and put on an exhibition of his own.

Momcilovic set new single-game career highs in points (29) and 3-pointers (seven) in the No. 16 Cyclones’ 88-50 demolition of the Knights before a crowd of 13,332 at Hilton Coliseum.

“Hopefully, that’s how it looks every game,” said Momcilovic, who went 1-for-14 from beyond the arc in the exhibition games, but drained 7 of 10 3-pointers Monday while shooting 11-for-16 from the field overall. “I think just playing with confidence as a shooter, you’ve always gotta have it, and today I had it.”

Only one aspect of Monday’s rollicking win drew louder applause then his flurry of field goal from all over the floor — and that was the announcement of senior Tamin Lipsey as a starter.

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Lipsey suffered an MCL strain in practice on Sept. 23 and faced a four to six week rehabilitation. He returned to the court at what head coach T.J. Otzelberger deemed “full-go,” and stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals.

“He looked great out there tonight,” said Otzelberger, whose team won its season opener by 38-plus points for the fourth straight time. “He knocks down the 3(-pointer) right away. He’s explosive getting to the basket, made a lot of plays defensively, chased down some loose balls.”

In other words, the same old Lipsey, who extended his program record for career steals to 242, while passing Jamaal Tinsley for ninth on the all-time chart in assists with 434.

“It felt great,” said Lipsey, who fell four points short of tying his single-game career-high in that area. “A little tired, missing the last six weeks of practice, going up and down, missing the exhibitions, but it felt good. The body felt good. Just felt good to be out there with the team and have fun and get a win.”

The Cyclones bolted to a quick 13-3 lead on Lipsey’s steal and layup with 14:58 left in the first half and used a Momcilovic-fueled 11-0 run in the second half to lead by as many as 44 points. ISU outscored FDU 24-to-5 in points off of turnovers and allowed just 22.2 percent 3-point shooting.

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“Those are things that we want to be great,” Otzelberger said. “I think we were relatively quick to our rotations. Still gotta continue working, but for the most part, I’ve been pleased with our progress.

The Cyclones offense also shined, as they shot 52.2 percent overall and 44.4 percent from 3-point range. Six different players made at least one shot from beyond the arc, and forward Joshua Jefferson notched his 14th career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“With Tamin on the floor, it helps us so much,” said Momcilovic, whose previous career high in points was 24. “We’re just such a better team with him.”

ISU’s also much better when Momcilovic is playing with confidence and flow, draining tough shots from both long distance and in quick turnarounds or post-up layups in the paint.

“That’s the key right there,” Otzelberger said. “It’s not just relying on that 3-point shot, as aggressive as we want him to be (there). It’s finding other ways (by) cutting, posting a smaller guy, trying to get some points in the paint and finish around the goal. Then you’re seeing the ball go through the basket, and then that makes those 3’s feel a lot better with rhythm, too.”

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So there were good vibes all around, especially once Momcilovic left the game for good and saw teammate Cade Kelderman knock down his first 3-pointer of the season, and Jamarion Batemon drill the first deep ball of his career.

“I wasn’t surprised both of them got it,” he said. “I was happy for them and me. So, 50-50."

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