CHICAGO — Offensive rebounds top the list of struggles No. 2 seed Iowa State faced during its 76-62 loss against No. 6 seed Tennessee Saturday in the Sweet 16, ending its 2025-2026 season.
Going up against a team that was No. 1 in the nation for offensive rebounding percentage, the Cyclones’ performance was underwhelming under the basket. Despite hopes of winning the rebounding battle, the Volunteers out-rebounded Iowa State 16-8 on the offensive side of the ball and 27-14 defensively.
“They’re the best offensive rebounding team in the country,” head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “It certainly proved true tonight.”
Without senior forward Joshua Jefferson due to a left ankle sprain, the Cyclones relied heavily on junior forward Blake Buchanan for rebounding success. However, with a tough height matchup on all areas of the court, Buchanan dealt with 6-foot-11 sophomore J.P. Estrella, 6-foot-10 forward Nate Ament and 6-foot-11 forward Fleix Okpara.
Due to being put up against long wingspans, Buchanan had three rebounds overall. But he did not let the extra pressure face him during his 30 minutes on the court.
“It’s hard, I got to do everything I can do in my power,” Buchanan said. “As a team, we just had to be better. I had to do a better job of boxing out and we had to do a better job cracking down on team rebounding. So it’s an all-around effort, but it kind of starts with me.”
Finding the most success with the glass was senior guard Tamin Lipsey and redshirt senior guard Nate Heise, who each walked away with five rebounds. Close behind was freshman guard Killyan Toure, who had four of his own.
Due to their lack of rebounding, the Cyclones missed out on a large portion of second-chance points, overall ending the game with seven.
On the other side of the court, Tennessee only proved its versatility, talent and height, securing 14 second-chance points, four short of Iowa State’s point deficit of 18.
Although offensive rebounds were not the only thing the Cyclones struggled with on the court in Chicago, their time behind the charity stripe did nothing but lessen their chances of ending scoring droughts and closing the score margin.
Iowa State shot 60% from the line, making 15 out of its 25 attempts, similar to Tennessee, which shot 60%, going 9-for-15 from behind the line.
The offensive struggles also continued from behind the arc, with the Cyclones going 5-for-23. Junior forward Milan Momcilovic, regarded as the nation’s best shooter, made only two out of his eight attempted shots, the most on the team.
“Milan [Momcilovic] has done such a great job as a problem solver and finding opportunities and creating space for himself,” Otzelberger said. “But that was one of those games where they were better.”
Matched up against an unusual, offense-lacking team, the Volunteers were able to beat Iowa State in multiple areas on the court, not just what was shown on the scoreboard. Tennessee went 30-59 from the field compared to the Cyclones 21-54.
The Cyclones also only made 31.8% of their shots from three-point range and had four players scoring in double digits.
Despite facing challenges during the game, they maintained a positive outlook and focused on the strengths of their season. This mindset is something that Otzelberger emphasizes as part of the program’s culture.
“They call it palms up, which is the whole complaining thing; none of that flies in this program,” junior guard Cade Kelderman said. “No matter if things are going your way or not, they don’t want us complaining about past calls, reacting to stuff because it’s in the past, they don’t want us to worry about the past.”
