South Dakota States opponent in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Omaha on Thursday night will be the No. 2 seeded Iowa State Cyclones. This will be the 23rd tournament appearance for the Cyclones, but lets get to know this years team.
Iowa State comes into Thursdays matchup against the Jackrabbits with a 27-7 overall record. The Cyclones went 13-5 in the Big 12 and finished second in the conference in the regular season, but they won the Big 12 Tournament this past weekend.
ISU capped off its championship run in the conference tournament with a 69-41 win over No. 1 ranked Houston. That was the second time the Cyclones beat the Cougars this season as they beat Houston 57-53 in Ames on Jan. 9. In total, ISU had a 6-5 record against Top 25 opponents this season.
The Cyclones have hung their hat on their defense this year. They are the top-ranked defense in the country in effective defensive efficiency as they give up 87.1 points per 100 possessions. They are fourth in the country in scoring defense, giving up 61.3 points per game and are 13th in opponent field goal percentage (39.9%). ISU forces the second most turnovers per game in the country as the Cyclones make their opponent turn the ball over 17.5 times per game.
Offensively, Iowa State was in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 this season. The Cyclones were sixth in the conference in scoring (75.6 points per game), field goal percentage (46.3%) and 3-point percentage (34.9%).
Iowa State is led by sophomore guard Tamin Lipsey and junior guard Keshon Gilbert. Lipsey was First Team All-Big 12 selection and was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. He averages 12.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.7 steals per game. The 2.7 steals per game are fourth in the country in that category.
Gilbert was a Second Team All-Big 12 selection and averages 13.8 points per game, 4.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists. He was also named to the All-Big 12 Newcomer Team as he transferred from UNLV.
The Cyclones have two other players that score in double figures. Freshman forward Milan Momcilovic was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team as he averages 11 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Senior guard Curtis Jones averages 10.5 points per game.
The Cyclones are led by T.J. Otzelberger, who most SDSU fans know very well as he was the Jackrabbits head coach for three seasons from 2016-2019. Otzelberger coached two seasons at UNLV before taking the Iowa State job in the spring of 2021.
In his first season he led the Cyclones to a 22-13 record, a year after they went 2-22. ISU went to the Sweet 16 in Otzelbergers first season and he led the Cyclones back to the Big Dance last year with a 19-14 record, but they fell to Pittsburgh 59-41 in the first round.
Otzeleberger took SDSU to the NCAA Tournament in two of his three seasons in Brookings. In his second season at SDSU, the Jacks won a then program record 28 games and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Ohio State.
This is the ninth NCAA Tournament appearance for the Cyclones in the past 12 seasons. They have made it to the Sweet 16 three times in the past 12 seasons and in their history they have only made it past the Sweet 16 twice and one of them was in 1944. The No. 2 seed this season ties the 2000 and 2001 teams for the highest seed in school history.
SDSU and Iowa State are scheduled to tip things off at the CHI Health Center at 6:35 p.m. on Thursday. The game will be televised on TruTV.
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