Peterson: For Iowa State basketball, beating Kansas was a gigantic statement

AMES – Talk about a statement.

Oh my, did Iowa State basketball make a statement Saturday afternoon, or what? For the second time this season, T.J. Otzelberger’s program showed that you don’t want to mess with the Cyclones at Hilton Coliseum.

They did it during a victory against top-5 Kelvin Sampson and Houston two weeks ago.

They did it again with Saturday’s 79-75 victory against Bill Self and No. 8 Kansas.

“Kansas is a high-level program,” an emotional Otzelberger said after opening his postgame press conference vehemently defending his program against spying accusations from Kansas State. “We have all the respect in the world for coach Self, the players, the success they’ve had -- they’ve upheld the bar in this league for a number of years.”

This season, at least, maybe that bar is changing. Could be changing. Might be changing.

“The teams are good and you’ve got good coaches in this league, too,” Self said after the game. “We’ve got a nice team. We’ve shown this year that we can beat anybody – Connecticut, Tennessee and Kentucky.

“We’ve also shown this year that anybody can get us, for the most part, but there’s no 'anybody’s' in our league. Everybody’s good.”

Saturday's win marked 13 straight wins at this rocking home of the 18th-ranked Cyclones. Emphatically yes, Iowa State has one of the nation’s best homecourt advantages.

Statement?

Oh my, and then some.

“Unbelievable environment,” Otzelberger said. “Best environment I’ve ever seen for a college basketball game. The humility, gratitude, thankfulness to our fan base . . .

“Our students were outside camped for three days in tents. All those that came before us – it is with a tremendous amount of thankfulness and gratitude that I sit here and just appreciate what an honor it is to be the head coach of the Cyclones men’s basketball team.

“There’s truly nowhere better that I’ve ever seen in college basketball. I’m really fortunate.”That’s another statement, a testament to the effect that Hilton Coliseum’s atmosphere can have.

Hilton overflowed Saturday afternoon with fans expecting to see a high-energy Big 12 basketball game. They not only got all they wanted in that respect, but they also participated in what was a party-like atmosphere. For 40 minutes, it was New Year’s Eve, the Fourth of July, a dance party, and at times, a combination of all three.

Yes, this has been and is a special Iowa State team, Otzelberger’s third since turning this again-proud program around. It’s especially special if it continues playing defense like this – Keshon Gilbert against Kevin McCullar comes to mind – and if it can make 3-point baskets like it did (and I’m not expecting deep 14 swishes like Saturday) this team has limitless potential.

Did I mention the 3-point basket? How about Gilbert’s with 41 seconds to play? That dagger resulted in a 77-72 lead and was the clincher. The dagger.

The statement basket of a game that was televised nationally by CBS television.

The place went nuts – even louder than when Jayhawks started filtering from the locker room for early shooting and stretching. The place really went wild when Self ventured onto the floor, just a few minutes before tipoff. He shared what looked to be a very cordial conversation while shaking Otzelberger’s hand, then walked over to his team’s bench area.

More: T.J. Otzelberger refutes allegations of Iowa State basketball spying on Kansas State's huddles

But before tip, there was a special introduction. Athletics director Jamie Pollard and Iowa State honored retired ref John Higgins for his years of dedication to college basketball. One of the nation’s finest, while working nine Final Fours and two national championship games, Higgins has traded whistle to become the coordinator of the Western Basketball Officiating Consortium. That’s a fancy name for the person who selects refs for games in six western United States conferences.

Currying favor with the refs? The Cyclones got all they needed from a surprise attack from the 3-point line and defense. It was just a nice and well-deserved gesture toward truly, one of the nation’s finest college basketball officials.

We’ve seen a lot of everything in this intense rivalry, but on Saturday, for the most part, everything was all right. No visible blood was drawn, yet the game didn’t lack physicality.

Coaches got upset with the refs – Self even got a first-half technical, but that happens in all games.

More: Iowa State basketball scores win over No. 8 Kansas, stays undefeated at home this season

Fans, however, were as enthusiastic as they’ve been for any Iowa State-Kansas game. That’s the stature this game carries when it’s played in Ames – and speaking of this rivalry game . . .

What was the Big 12 thinking when it removed the traditional home-and-home for this game? I sure don’t know.

That’s another place in which Iowa state made a statement Saturday – a statement that this rivalry must remain of the home-and-home variety, because as Self told us:

“This league is a monster. It’s just good.”

Good? This league is great – just like how Iowa State shot the ball on Saturday.

Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson is in his 52nd year writing sports for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, on X @RandyPete, and at DesMoinesRegister.com/CyclonesTexts

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State basketball's win vs. Kansas was a big statement game