The Iowa State Cyclones played the Southern Jaguars on Tuesday night in a non-conference game, where they looked to prove a lot to themselves.

After starting the season 1-1 and looking slightly disappointing, Iowa State completely changed the narrative with a dominant 84-47 win over Southern.

The offense looked significantly better all game, and the Cyclones rallied defensively and consistently turned it into transition offense. And one player who truly stood out was Jamarion Batemon.

Batemon, a true sophomore, had high expectations this season. After averaging 6.6 points as a freshman, many believed that it was his year to step up and make the plays necessary to become one of the team’s stars. But in the early going, it didn’t show at all.

Jamarion batemon stuffs stat sheet in coming out game

Batemon shot just 18% from the 3-point range throughout the two exhibitions and the first two non-conference games. And early against Southern University, you could easily tell the confidence wasn’t there. He missed a few 3-pointers at the start, got one blocked, and simply wasn’t pulling like he was last year during Big 12 play. Fans were on edge as a result.

But after a few started to hit, Batemon looked just fine. His confidence was back offensively, and he was able to look much more fluid. He also passed the ball extremely well.

Defensively, Batemon was fantastic. He finished with four steals, often finding himself in passing lanes and getting dirty on the floor. He also had eight rebounds, which has been an underrated aspect of his game recently.

His final stat line was 14 points, eight rebounds, six assists, four steals, and a block. He was definitely Iowa State’s most valuable player of the game, both on offense and defense.

Batemon has really grown over the past few games. People were suggesting that it was time for Batemon to lose some minutes due to his poor play and inefficiency. But that’s exactly why these “easier” games have come at the perfect time.

The Cyclones are able to understand what works well, what needs improvement, and how to go about it. Batemon is a perfect example of a player who just needed a bit of time to get comfortable with playing in his new role, and he’s starting to understand better and better the responsibilities of what he has to do.

Iowa State takes on the Niagara Purple Eagles on Sunday with hopes of getting another blowout, fixing a few things, and improving their record to 3-1 this year.