As if No. 16 Iowa State didn’t have enough weapons, now the Cyclones have a freshman starting to make noise.
Jamarion Batemon is seeing his minutes increase and it has been a big plus for Cyclones (3-0) as they get set to host Stonehill (1-4) on Monday in Ames, Iowa.
Batemon played 14 minutes in Iowa State’s 96-80 win over Mississippi State this week and had six points and three rebounds.
Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger praised things Batemon did that didn’t show up on the stat sheet.
“The thing about Batemon is he is an everyday guy,” Otzelberger said. “He has tremendous toughness, he is resilient, and he has great work habits. Those show up for him. If things in a game don’t go well for him, he is the first guy in the gym the next day.”
The 6-foot-3 combo guard, a consensus Top 100 recruit, had just three points in 10 minutes in the opener against Fairleigh Dickinson (an 88-50 win), but he came back with 11 in 13 minutes in a 102-62 win over Grambling.
“Ultimately, he cares about the team winning first,” Otzelberger said. “His personal discipline, his habits, his mindset are tremendous. Those things show up in the reality of how the game goes his way. It is rare at 18 years old to have these habits.”
The Cyclones have plenty of veterans to give Batemon the time to develop.
Tamin Lipsey has led the Cyclones so far. The senior guard had 25 points in the win over Mississippi State, 14 in the second half.
The finalist for national Defensive Player of the Year last season averages a team-high 17.7 points and 5.7 assists per game.
Senior forward Joshua Jefferson had 18 against Mississippi State and averages 17.3 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game.
Blake Buchanan also had 13 points and six rebounds in the win.
The Cyclones were stifling on defense, forcing 26 turnovers and turning them into 29 points. Lipsey had three steals and six assists.
The Skyhawks are in their first year of being eligible to play in the NCAA Tournament.
Stonehill moved up from Division II after the 2021-22 season and have gone 34-65 since then.
Chris Kraus, who has been coaching the Skyhawks since 2013, led his team into the Northeast Conference tournament last season so he seeks more growth this season.
“It was certainly a change coming from Division II to Division I,” Kraus said in the preseason. “We got a taste of it right away and playing in front of 12 to 13,000 fans was a transition. I think we have proved that we belong.”
Kraus, who played at Stonehill, is one of two NCAA Division I coaches who is Canadian. The other is Pacific’s Dave Smart.
The Skyhawks are coming off a 74-63 loss to Loyola Maryland on Saturday. Their trip to Iowa State marks their third game away from home in four days.
They are led by sophomore guard Hermann Koffi, a Quebec City native who averages 18.4 points per game.
Forward Raymond Espinal-Guzman provides 10.6 points and a team-high 9.4 rebounds per game.
