MILWAUKEE – Milan Momcilovic stared at the basket a brief moment before running back on defense, slightly shaking his head. The rim can be unforgiving in March. Mystifying. Even when it’s in your hometown gym.

The former Pewaukee High standout saw just how temperamental the rim can be in his homecoming this weekend for the NCAA tournament. Two days after his scorching shooting led Iowa State to the second round, Momcilovic couldn’t find the net in No. 6 Iowa State’s 91-78 loss Sunday night to No. 6 Mississippi at Fiserv Forum.

The Cyclones’ sophomore forward shot just 2 of 12 from the field, including 1 of 8 behind the three-point arc. He lingered a moment, but only for a moment, after his sixth three-pointer clanged off the rim despite an open look early in the second half. Momcilovic finally drained his first three-pointer from the left corner with less than 5 minutes left, avoiding going scoreless from beyond the arc for only the third time this season.

Mississippi plays a distinctive defense that consists of regularly switching guards onto bigger forwards, and larger players onto guards. The mismatched pattern can disrupt rhythm for an offense, but Momcilovic said he felt his shots were open enough to make more consistently.

“They were being physical,” Momcilovic said. “They put a smaller guy on me, but I just think at the end of the day, I had three or four open looks in the first half. I missed them all. I got one bucket to go in the first half, but just missed four or five open looks in the first half, honestly.

“Then to come out at half and miss two or three looks, it was just tough. I couldn’t get one to go all night, and my team needed me.”

BOX SCORE: Mississippi 91, Iowa State 78

Momcilovic had plenty of company. Iowa State shot 48% from the field, but only 8 of 22 (36%) from behind the arc. The final numbers don’t show how much the Cyclones struggled shooting. Iowa State was just 3 of 11 from behind the three-point line in the first half.

The Cyclones were also just 15 of 23 from the free-throw line, emphasizing their overall shooting woes.

Without second-leading scorer Keshon Gilbert, Iowa State needed a complementary cast – including Momcilovic – to pick up the scoring burden to advance far in this tournament. The sophomore responded in Friday’s first-round win against No. 14 Lipscomb with 20 points, his second most this season. he shot 8 of 14 from the field Friday, including 4 of 8 from three.

Momcilovic finished with just 5 points against the Rebels. It was his fewest in a game since Feb. 11.

“All my teammates tell me to keep shooting,” Mimcilovic said. “The coaches tell me to keep shooting. So I’m going to keep shooting. Because, I mean, that’s what I’m good at. It’s just try to stay confident if the shots aren’t going to go down. If I’m not shooting well, hopefully try to give some energy to my teammates. Hopefully be better, be a cutter, but it is tough when you miss a lot of shots. That mindset, you don’t get a lot of confidence, and it’s tough.”

Mississippi had no problem finding the basket

The rim wasn’t so unkind when Iowa State was on defense. Mississippi shot a blistering 58% from the field, including a matching 58% from three.

After trailing 15-8 with 14:27 left, the Rebels seized control with an extended 20-2 run over the next 6:23. The stretch ended with Mississippi taking a 28-17 lead with 8:24 left in the half.

The Cyclones cut their deficit to 43-34 on a free throw from Joshua Jefferson with 18:21 left, but Rebels forward Jaemyn Brakefield answered with a layup on the next possession. Iowa State wouldn’t pull within single digits again.

“I would say we struggled just to stay in front of our guy guarding the ball,” senior guard Nate Heise said. “Then that put us into rotations. I think that’s where a lot of their 3s came from, was two guys going to the ball and then someone being open on the back side, or something like that.

Mississippi won the turnover battle 15-8, which also led to easier shots in transition. The Rebels outscored the Cyclones 20-7 off turnovers, a 13-point margin that matched a 13-point win.

Chris Beard rebuilding project ahead of schedule

With the win, Mississippi advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2001. The Rebels were the second SEC program to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16 on Sunday night in Milwaukee, joining Kentucky. The No. 3 Wildcats beat No. 6 Illinois in the first game of a doubleheader inside Fiserv Forum.

Rebels coach Chris Beard, who led Texas Tech to the national title game in 2019, was hired last season to rebuild Mississippi’s basketball program. Ending the Sweet 16 drought is a watershed moment for his program.

“It hasn’t been done recently,” Beard said, “but telling these guys what we thought we could do at Ole Miss, they trusted us enough to come. Excited about the players. All my thoughts are on those guys. We came here to win a four-team tournament. So two down. It takes six to win the whole thing. “Told the guys to enjoy this for a half a day, and we will get back to work tomorrow. We’re excited about our next opportunity in the Sweet 16.”

After trailing 15-8 with 14:27 left, the Rebels seized control with an extended 20-2 run over the next 6:23. The stretch ended with Mississippi taking a 28-17 lead with 8:24 left in the half.

The Cyclones cut their deficit to 43-34 on a free throw from Joshua Jefferson with 18:21 left, but Rebels forward Jaemyn Brakefield answered with a layup on the next possession. Iowa State wouldn’t pull within single digits again.

With the win, Mississippi advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2001. The Rebels were the second SEC program to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16 on Sunday night in Milwaukee, joining Kentucky. The No. 3 Wildcats beat No. 6 Illinois in the first game of a doubleheader inside Fiserv Forum.