Brett Twelmeyer, Sports Editor
No. 3 Iowa State 77, No. 14 Lipscomb 68
This is it, the big dance.
Iowa State locked up the No. 3 seed in Milwaukee, which should mean a large influx of Cyclone fans will flock to the area to support the team. And they might need it.
While Iowa State has been fantastic when fully healthy (19-2), the recent games have been a bit of a struggle, as the Cyclones are 7-7 in the last 14 games.
While injuries have had a large part in that, and this game will be no exception, I feel that Lipscomb matches up well with Iowa State, but not well enough in the end to win.
For starters, the Bisons (which is a terrible nickname, by the way) have five players that score over 10 points per game, one over 20. Their pace of play is similar to that of Houston, a team that rolled through the Big 12, but Iowa State contended with on the road.
Lipscomb is slow and doesn’t turn the ball over a lot, which will hurt the Iowa State offense if its defense cannot convert turnovers into points. It’s been a recipe for success for the Cyclones recently, and it needs to happen again.
Having senior guard Keshon Gilbert out stings, but it’s been known for about a week that he won’t be available, which I believe is a benefit for the Cyclones. Knowing he is gone and practicing with that mindset is positive to get other players, like sophomore guard Cade Kelderman, ready.
I’ll finish with this: It was 10 years and two days ago when Iowa State played its only NCAA Tournament as a three-seed. The Cyclones lost that game to UAB. They will not lose to Lipscomb.
Pavle Markovic, Assistant Sports Editor
No. 3 Iowa State 80, No. 14 Lipscomb 74
The best tournament of the season has arrived and it’s already gotten off to a good start.
Now, it’ll be Iowa State’s turn to take part in the madness of March as a three-seed taking on the 14th-seeded Lipscomb Bisons.
While the Cyclones will be without Gilbert in this game and throughout their run in this tournament, I still believe that this team can make a decent run that starts on Friday.
Lipscomb won’t be a team that will just go down easy, as the Bisons will be looking to play spoiler after having a share of the regular season title in the Atlantic Sun conference while taking the tournament crown over the team they fought for the regular season title in North Alabama.
Five players average double-digit points for Lipscomb, with senior forward Jacob Ognacevic leading the charge with 20.1 points per game. On top of that, Ognacevic also leads the Bisons with 8.1 rebounds per game.
Lipscomb achieves these offensive stats with a slower pace of play and has been known to be careful with the ball as the Bisons average under 10 turnovers a game.
If Iowa State wants to avoid being upset in the first round, it’ll want to speed up Lipscomb’s game while being able to shut down its best scorers from catching fire.
With that, I still have faith in the Cyclones to take care of business against the Bisons and move on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Cayden Storm, Sports Reporter
No. 3 Iowa State 79, No. 14 Lipscomb 64
Iowa State fans know not to take any opponent lightly in the NCAA tournament, especially a No. 14 seed. Just 10 years ago, the last time the Cyclones were a No. 3 seed in the tournament, they lost a stunner to No. 14 seed UAB 60-59.
Additionally, the Lipscomb team that Iowa State will be facing this season is much stronger than the UAB team that pulled off that upset 10 years ago.
That UAB team went 20-16 and finished fifth in Conference USA with a loss to Division II UNC Pembroke before going on a run in the conference tournament to steal a bid to the NCAA tournament.
On the other hand, Lipscomb is 25-9 and won the Atlantic Sun regular season championship along with a conference tournament championship. Lipscomb has also lost just one game since Feb. 1 and is riding a seven-game winning streak heading into the tournament.
That being said, I don’t think Lipscomb will be able to pull off the upset like UAB did a decade ago.
The one thing that the UAB team has over this Lipscomb team is that they faced a much tougher schedule.
The Atlantic Sun is a relatively weak conference that Lipscomb took advantage of, but in the two games that it played against power conference opponents, it lost by 16 to Arkansas and 29 to Kentucky.
In my opinion, Iowa State is better than both of those teams that made easy work of Lipscomb, but games in March are different.
I think that if junior guard Tamin Lipsey is healthy, the Cyclones should have no issue getting past Lipscomb, but if he is limited things could get dicey.
For my prediction, I’m going to split the difference between those possibilities and say that Iowa State ultimately ends up winning comfortably in a competitive matchup.
Jacob Rice, Visuals Editor
No. 3 Iowa State 86, No. 14 Lipscomb 56
Look, I won’t have any new thoughts on this because the answer is obvious. Iowa State is going to win this game. We’ve already seen a few upsets in the first portion of this year’s tournament, but this matchup will not be one of them.
Lipscomb has only faced two Power Five schools and both were not close games. Iowa State is a Big 12 basketball team, and as head coach T.J. Otzelberger has made it known, the Big 12 is one of if not the best conferences for college basketball.
Iowa State has been inconsistent with the three this season but has maintained its defensive presence, which is more than enough to compensate for the late-season injuries in Lipsey and Gilbert.
As for our future in the tournament, that is another story. Would I like to see Iowa State make another Sweet Sixteen? Yes. Do I think our potential opponents in the second round will be as forgiving? No. Is this group of Cyclones contenders for major success if the cards are dealt correctly? Yes.
