Cyclones Into The Sweet 16 With 82-63 Win Against Kentucky

Sunday, March 22

St. Louis, Mo.

1:45 PM

Iowa State

29-7,12-6Big 12

Kentucky

22-14,10-8SEC

Kentucky

Iowa St.

Photo by: Jeff Spaur

Cyclones Into The Sweet 16 With 82-63 Win Against Kentucky

03.22.2026 | Men's Basketball

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ST. LOUIS, Mo. – No. 6 Iowa State shot 63 percent from the field and outscored Kentucky 51-33 in the second half as it rolled to its third Sweet 16 appearance under head coach T.J. Otzelberger with an 82-63 win over the Wildcats (23-13) at the Enterprise Center.

The Cyclones (29-7), the second-seed in the Midwest Region, will face either third-seeded Virginia or sixth-seeded Tennessee next Friday at United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Playing without All-American Joshua Jefferson, who was injured in the first round game against Tennessee State, it was senior Tamin Lipsey who stepped up and posted a career day.

Lipsey scored a career-high 26 points, surpassing his previous high against Mississippi State (25). He also notched 10 assists.

How It Happened
Kentucky roared out of the gates to go up 10-4 at the first media timeout, eventually extending its lead to 20-9 with 11:30 left in the opening half.

But Iowa State responded with an 11-0 run to tie things up. The Wildcats would bang home a pair of 3-pointers and pushed the lead to 30-23 with under three minutes remaining. The Cyclones closed the half on an 8-0 run, highlighted by a Nate Heise corner 3-pointer as time expired to give ISU's a 31-30 lead at the break. It was ISU's first lead since going up 2-0 on a Blake Buchanan floater on the first possession of the game.

ISU extended its lead to 41-36 at the first media timeout of the second half and it was all Cyclones after that as they outscored the Wildcats 35-19 over the next 12 minutes on the way to the win.

Iowa State forced 20 Kentucky turnovers and turned them into 25 points.

Top Performers
Lipsey finished with a 26 point, 10 assist double-double, his first of the season.

He led three others in double figures, including Milan Momcilovic, who finished with 20 points and connected on four 3-pointers. Heise had 12 points and Toure added 10 in the victory.

Denzel Aberdeen paced the Wildcats with 20 points.

Up Next
Iowa State advances to the Sweet 16 to face either Tennessee or Virginia in Chicago, Illinois next Friday.

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 36^th 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 98^th 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 80^th 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.