Lipsey posts career high in win over Kentucky

· Yahoo Sports

Iowa State Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey (3) reacts after a play during the first half against the Kentucky Wildcats during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

ST. LOUIS — Led by Ames native Tamin Lipsey’s career and game high 26 points, No. 6 Iowa State advanced to their third Sweet 16 appearance in five years as the Cyclones defeated No. 7 seeded Kentucky 82-63 at the Enterprise Center on Sunday. Iowa State improves to 29-7 and the Wildcats finish their season 22-14.

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“Credit to Kentucky, Coach Pope, great season,” head coach T.J. Otzelberger said following the game. “We knew what a formidable opponent they’d be. A lot of respect for the job they do, and we knew we had to be at our best.”

In addition to Lipsey, three other Cyclones finished with double-digit points. Junior forward Milan Momcilovic scored 20 points and guards Nate Heise and Killyan Toure scored 12 and 10 respectively.

“If I had anything to say about it, I was going to go out there and fight,” Lipsey said. “I didn’t want this to be my last game of my career.”

Junior Blake Buchanan won the tip and 14 seconds into the game connected on a nine foot jumper. Kentucky responded with a 10-0 run over the following 3:44.

Lipsey got his first two points of the afternoon at the 15:16 mark, which brought Iowa State within four (10-6). Kentucky went on another run, this time a 10-3 advantage over 3:01.

Iowa State responded with an 11-0 run of their own.

Malachi Moreno’s pair of free throws at the 2:07 mark gave the Wildcats a seven point lead, the largest they’d possess for the remainder of the game. The Cyclones finished the first half with a 8-0 run, punctuated by a Heise 3-point basket to send ISU into halftime up 31-30.

The second half started the same way the first half ended, with a 3-point basket by Iowa State. Andrija Jelavić cut the Cyclone lead to two with a layup at the 17:23 mark of the second half.

Otega Oweh gave Kentucky their 40th point of the contest at the 13:50 mark. Following his 16 foot jumper, Iowa State went on a 14-3 run over the next 4:20.

“I think that’s something we identified before the game,” Heise said. “I think, when you get (Kentucky) to that point, it’s like ‘Let’s just be done.’ I think that’s their mindset.”

Jamarion Batemon made his one basket of the game, a 3-point basket from 32 feet away, with 6:39 remaining which put Iowa State up 70-47.

The 23 point lead was the largest margin in the contest.

Momcilovic connected on his fourth and final 3-point basket with 98 seconds remaining, finalizing the Cyclone scoring tally.

Wildcats Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen connected on the final three points of the game, all on free throws.

For the game, the Cyclones shot 45.9 percent from the floor compared to Kentucky’s 46.67 percent from the field. Iowa State was dominant in the paint, outscoring the ‘Cats 34-20. ISU also capitalized on points off turnovers, scoring 25 to Kentucky’s 12. The Cyclones had 13 fewer turnovers as a team (7-20).

Next up

No. 2 seeded Iowa State faces off against No. 6 seeded Tennessee on Friday. The Cyclones are 1-2 all time against the Volunteers, with the first matchup being a regular season game in Knoxville on Dec. 4, 1968.

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