(St. Louis, MO) — Iowa St. advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 9th time in school history using a huge first half to beat Kentucky 82-63 on Sunday afternoon in the men’s NCAA Tournament.
Playing without All-American Joshua Jefferson, ISU got off to a sluggish start trailing 18-6. Down 20-9, the Cyclones came alive with an 11-0 run mostly getting to the free throw line. Otega Oweh made a three for the Wildcats to make it 25-20 but Milan Momcilovic answered with a triple of his own. Kam Williams came back with another three for UK and lead went back up to 30-23. The Cyclones closed the first half on a 8-0 run with Nate Heise drilling a three in the corner at the end for a 31-20 Iowa St. lead at the break.
ISU never trailed from there. Up 36-34 early in the 2nd half, Tamin Lipsey hit a big trend setting triple to make it 39-34. After an Oweh bucket made it 46-40, ISU went on a 13-1 run to lead by 18 with 9;53 to go. Kentucky was never really a threat the rest of the game.
Lipsey sparked Iowa St. (29-7) with a career high 26 points — his previous best was 25 against Mississippi St. early in the season. The Senior from Ames also had 10 assists, 5 steals and 3 rebounds. Momcilovic had 20 points going 4 of 9 on his threes. Heise got the start for Jefferson and had 12 points while Killyan Toure added 10 points. Blake Buchanan finished with 9 points and 8 rebounds. The Cyclones only had 7 turnoverst to 20 for the Wildcats.
Kentucky (22-14) was led by Denzel Aberdeen with 20 points and Oweh had 18.
Iowa St. will face the winner of Virginia and Tennessee on a day and time TBA, coverage on KSOM.
Team Notes
-Iowa State advances to its eighth Sweet 16 and the third under head coach T.J. Otzelberger.
-Otzelberger has coached the Cyclones to 25 neutral court victories, the most in program history.
-ISU’s 29 wins ties for the second-most in a single season in school history.
Individual Notes
– Killyan Toure made his 36th start of the season, the second-most in program history by a freshman behind only teammate Milan Momcilovic during the 2023-24 season.
– Nate Heise started in place of an injured Joshua Jefferson, his fourth start this season.
– Tamin Lipsey broke ISU’s NCAA Tournament program record for steals with 13X.
– Lipsey played in his 98th career win, tying him with Nazareth Mitrou-Long, Matt Thomas and Georges Niang for the second-most in program history.
– Lipsey scored in double figures for the 80th time in his career … his 26 points were a personal high for an NCAA Tournament game, surpassing his previous high of 17 against South Dakota State in 2024.
