The No. 16 Cyclones are set to begin their 2025-26 campaign at home against FDU at 7 p.m. Monday.
Iowa State split its two exhibition games, losing to No. 22 Creighton and beating Northwestern. With those games wrapped up, the Cyclones are ready to officially start their season at Hilton Coliseum.
The Cyclones finished the 2024-25 season with a 25-10 record and got up to No. 2 in the country at one point. The Cyclones ended up losing to Ole Miss in round 32 of March Madness. The Knights did not have the same type of success, going 13-20 and just 4-15 on the road.
One of the biggest stories regarding the start of the Cyclones’ season is the status of senior point guard Tamin Lipsey. Lipsey suffered an MCL sprain in late September and was sidelined for both exhibition games.
“Tamin [Lipsey] practiced for the first time [Thursday] and everything, so we’ll see how his body responds to it,” Head Coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “Not going to get too far ahead of things on what that means.”
Lipsey has averaged 10.2 points and 4.2 assists per game over the course of his three year Iowa State career, and was named All-Big 12 Third team a year ago and All-Big 12 Defensive team each of the last two years.
Whether or not Lipsey will be available for the season opener against FDU is still up in the air, but Otzelberger wants to make sure he is fully healthy and prepared before he sends him onto the floor.
“Tamin is an elite competitor, too,” Otzelberger said. “So when he’s in the game, I don’t want to hold him back. That’s why it’s so important that we wait till he’s good, so that we don’t end up in this middle ground of how many minutes can you play and what’s right.”
With Lipsey’s absence during the exhibition games, the Cyclones relied on true freshman guard Killyan Toure to step in and get some big-time minutes right away. As the starting point guard in the win over Northwestern, Toure put up 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.
“I’m not a cheater, I like to play hard, 100% every day,” Toure said. “Exhibition game, season game, like, I just play my game. I play hard every time, and yeah, I do the best for the team.”
The Cyclones struggled offensively against Creighton, but began to see flashes of good against Northwestern. They hope to keep that upward swing going into the regular season.
“I’m glad it didn’t count for real stats, that’s a start, but as a team, I thought we played better in the second game,” junior forward Milan Momcilovic said. “Obviously, I think it’s a learning process for everyone, but I think we’re getting it quickly, which is good.”
Momcilovic averaged 11.5 points per game last season while shooting nearly 40% from deep. In the two exhibition games, Momcilovic went a mere 1-14 from three. The Cyclones will need that number to be better with games actually counting towards the record starting.
“I think Milan, his self-image as a player is like, his superpower is seeing that ball go through the basket,” Otzelberger said. “When he scores it, you see the gravity, the energy, the smile, the swagger, all those things. So for him, how he values himself as a player is more along those lines and then everything else goes better.”
FDU, on the other hand, did not have two exhibition games to help figure out its identity as a team, and Monday against the Cyclones will be the first time the Knights truly get to do that.
A year ago, the Knights were led by guard Terrence Brown, who averaged 20.6 points per game and was named All-NEC First Team. Brown’s 20.6 points per game were the eighth highest in the nation. Brown ended up transferring to Utah following last season.
The Knights’ highest scoring returner is sophomore guard Chidube Ekwommadu, who appeared in 21 games and averaged 2.1 points per game. FDU lost its top eight scorers, and this year’s roster is compiled with four freshmen and seven transfers, along with four returners.
Iowa State has an opportunity to start its 2025-26 season with a 1-0 record when it hosts FDU at 7 p.m. Monday. The game will be on ESPN+.
