The Iowa State Cyclones might be a little empty-handed going into the NCAA Tournament, missing their second-leading scorer Keshon Gilbert who was ruled out for the season a few days ago. The status of junior guard Tamin Lipsey was also up in the air with a nagging groin injury. Lipsey informed the team that he would be ready to go when they played the #14 seed Lipscomb Bisons. Here is Lipsey providing an update on how he felt after the game.
Lipsey is Iowa State’s all-time leader in steals, despite not getting one in today’s game. He is the one who gets the offense into their sets, and normally makes all the right plays when he’s out there. Lipsey and the Cyclones crusied in this game winning 82-55. The Cyclones came out and proved worthy of their #3 seed in the South region.
The Cyclones scored at will, shooting 58.3% from the field, they outrebounded the Bison 35-23 not allowing them to get many second chance opportunities. Besdies the hot shooting the Cyclones turned over the Bison 17 times and that produced 23 points off those turnovers. Points in the paint were another reason for the high shooting percentage, the Cyclones had 50 paint points to the Bisons 20.
Sophomore forward Milan Momcilovic led the Cyclones with 20 points on 8-14 from the field. Senior guard Curtis Jones does what he normally does off the bench providing a scoring spark with 17 points. Tamin Lipsey had 10 points and Joshua Jefferson had a very productive game almost registering a triple double with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists.
It was good to see Momcilovic healthy again after being sidelined earlier in the season with a hand injury. He made four 3-pointers and had 12 of the points during Iowa State’s 14-0 run they had in the first half.
“It means a lot to put on a show in front of friends and family. I wanted them to come to a good game and they got that,” Momcilovic said.
“I think I hit two or three 3s and then I took advantage of the smaller defender on me and took him down low,” Momcilovic said.
“There wasn’t panic. We didn’t rush or do anything out of character,” he said. “And then Milan just took over the game. You could see his confidence growing once he saw it go through the basket and credit to his teammates for doing an unbelievable job of finding him.”
Road to the Sweet 16: Iowa State, Ole Miss Face Off in High-Stakes Duel
Iowa State will play the Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday. The Rebels were able to hold off the North Carolina Tar Heels in their first-round matchup. North Carolina went on an 11-2 run late in the game to cut down what was a 20-point lead to the Rebels down to two points. North Carolina had their chance late in the game to take the lead but missed a couple of shots and then Ole Miss hit some key free throws down the stretch to seal and move on to the Second round.
Sean Pedulla played a complete game for the Rebels piling up 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. It came down to 3-point shooting as the Rebels made three more than the Tar Heels. The Rebels got to the line seven more times than the Tar Heels did. The Rebels are on the verge of making the NCAA Sweet 16 for the second time in school history.
For Ole Miss to advance they need to play a complete game. Iowa State is one of the most balanced teams in the tourney and can put you away in many different ways. Iowa State did lose to BYU twice, while Ole Miss defeated them earlier in the season. It would be an upset for the Rebels to get a win, but coach Chris Beard is an excellent tournament coach.
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