AMES – For the fourth time in four years, head coach T.J. Otzelberger has led Iowa State to the NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones will enter the 2024-25 dance as a No. 3 seed in Milwaukee and face Lipscomb.
“There was once upon a time I was a coach on the other side of it, right, when I was at South Dakota State,” Otzelberger said. “There’s really good teams out there at the mid-major level and teams that have a lot of skill, a lot of shooting, very well coached. And so you have to be very intentional in how you prepare. It’s a different game.”
Lipscomb enters with a 25-9 overall record and as the Atlantic Sun regular season and tournament champions. Based out of Nashville, the Bisons did face two ranked opponents out of the SEC but fell to both.
Key aspects of Lipscomb include its ability to score, as five players average over 10 points per game, led by forward Jacob Ognacevic with 20.1. The Bisons also protect the ball well, with just 9.5 turnovers per game.
“I really don’t know too much about Lipscomb,” sophomore forward Milan Momcilovic said. “We’re gonna dive in the next couple of days and watch film on them, see what they like to do.”
A lot of speculation surrounded where Iowa State might end up and what seed. Over the past few weeks, the Cyclones teetered between a three and a four seed with multiple sites in play.
“Whatever was to come today, we were going to be excited for that opportunity – I’ll leave all the bracketology stuff to everybody else,” Otzelberger said. “Again, it’s great for our guys. I don’t know how many times in our program we’ve earned a three-seed or better. It’s not something that just happens every year.”
Those sites included anywhere from Wichita, Seattle, Providence and Denver. Momcilovic kept tabs on it and was relieved when Milwaukee was chosen as the site.
“It’s really cool,” Momcilovic said. “Honestly, I didn’t think we’d get to go to Milwaukee because every bracket had us not going there, so it was a surprise, but it’s really cool to go back home.”
Momcilovic and Otzelberger will return to their home state of Wisconsin for the NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones are no strangers to Milwaukee in the NCAA Tournament, having played there in 2022 as part of Otzelberger’s first season, in which Iowa State made the Sweet 16.
A large influx of Iowa State fans are expected to make the trip out east to support the Cyclones.
“Last year, when we were in Omaha, to have the support that we did meant everything to our team. It gave us tremendous energy,” Otzelberger said. “Whether it’s Hilton South, whether it’s Hilton West, which was Omaha last year, maybe this is Hilton East, I don’t know. But really grateful to our fans, and just want to make sure they know what an impact they make on our ability to win by making that choice to be out there and support us.”
Though Iowa State was rewarded with its tough non-conference and conference slate with a three-seed, and by having Milwaukee as its site, the Cyclones will still have things to navigate going forward.
Senior guard Keshon Gilbert will not be available for the remainder of the season.
“We’ve decided that he needs to focus on his rehab and getting his body back right, so he won’t be available as we move forward,” Otzelberger said.
While Gilbert will not return, junior guard Tamin Lipsey is expected to be ready to go for Iowa State’s opening round game.
The winner of Iowa State vs. Lipscomb will take on either sixth-seeded Ole Miss or the winner of the 11-seed play-in game between San Diego State and North Carolina. That game will take place Sunday.
The Cyclones and Bisons will face off in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at 12:30 p.m. CT Friday at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. The game will be broadcast live on TNT.
“The mindset should be to never take anyone lightly,” junior forward Joshua Jefferson said. “Going into it like Lipscomb could win the whole thing, I think that’s the best mindset for any team to have going into March Madness.”
