What Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said after losing to BYU

Had the NCAA tournament began on Saturday, Iowa State would have been a No. 1 seed.

Undaunted by such prestige, BYU earned a much-needed, convincing upset win over those No. 6-ranked Cyclones Saturday night at the Marriott Center, with the Cougars outworking and out-hustling Iowa State for a 10-point victory.

“They were absolutely the more aggressive team for the majority of the game. They came out with physicality,” Otzelberger told reporters following the loss. “And look, we told our guys in the locker room, what we’ve accomplished up to this point is great. You’re going to get people’s best shot every night.

“We’re not sneaking up on anybody, so we better come out right away and be the one throwing the first punch and continuing to impose our will on the game because we’re getting everybody’s best.”

The Cyclones never led after halftime, and while they did cut the deficit to just three points in the second half, BYU always answered the call and found a way to bury Iowa State through physicality and inspired defensive play.

“When we were more physical and more aggressive, we started to generate some turnovers and dictate some things. That gave us the confidence we needed offensively,” Otzelberger said.

“But I felt like for the start of the game and then again toward the end, some of our offensive disappointments prevented us from being as aggressive as we need to be defensively. That can’t be the case.”

AJ Dybantsa posted his finest performance as a Cougar, playing all 40 minutes and scoring 29 points with 10 rebounds and nine assists.

“He’s a great player and we need to do a better job from the start at being aggressive and going after him,” Otzelberger said of Dybantsa.

“I think when we had success, the limited success we did have defending him, it was when we were ultra-physical into the basketball, really pressured him early and mid-second half.

“He’s a dynamite player and to play 40 minutes and to make all the plays that he makes is truly impressive.”

Most impressive to Dybantsa’s night was his smothering defense of Iowa State’s leading scorer Milan Momcilovic, holding the Cyclones’ 51% 3-point shooter to a 1 of 5 shooting night and just five points.

“Just a tremendous two-way player, gotta give him credit,” Otzelberger said.

With the loss, Iowa State falls to 23-4 on the season and 10-4 in Big 12 play, with an uphill climb ahead to get back into No. 1 seed territory come tournament time.

“We know who we need to be. We need to come out on the road and have that same level of physical toughness mentality to turn people over,” Otzelberger said. “When we did that tonight in short stints, we had success. We need to do it more.”

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