Iowa State vs. No. 20 UConn Gameday Primer

Who: Iowa State (5-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. No. 22 UConn (7-0, 0-0 BIG East)

Where: Moda Center (19,980) – Portland, Oregon

When: Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022 – 9 p.m. (CT)

TV: ESPN

The Lead:
Iowa State has advanced to the Phil Knight Invitational Championship Game after a 70-66 victory over No. 1 North Carolina in the semifinals. The victory was the third in program history over a top-ranked team. The Cyclones will face a third-straight Blue Blood in the finals in Connecticut. The Cyclones have won four of the last eight holiday tournaments they have participated in.

Storylines:

In addition to winning four of the last eight holiday tournaments the Cyclones have been in, Iowa State has played in the championship game in six of those with Sunday being the seventh in nine tournaments.
Iowa State is 2-0 in the two previous games following a win over the No. 1 team in the country. The Cyclones beat Oklahoma 74-54 on Jan. 19, 1957 after downing No. 1 Kansas five days earlier. In 2016, ISU won 73-60 at TCU on Jan. 23 after downing No. 1 Oklahoma five days prior.
Head Coach T.J. Otzelberger is 6-7 against the AP Top 25 at Iowa State following Friday's win. ISU is now 26-51 against the Top 25 at neutral sites. UConn enters at No. 20 in this weeks poll, with ISU being 7-5 against teams ranked 20th in the poll.
With three players that have scored 1,000 points or more in their careers on the roster, Iowa State is one of 13 schools in the country with three or more.
Tamin Lipsey is averaging 4.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game in the first five games. He is one of four true freshmen in the country to average those numbers.

From the Notes:
In five games this season, Iowa State has forced 107 turnovers. In Thursday's victory, the Cyclones forced 18 turnovers against Villanova. The Wildcats had turned the ball over just 34 times in four games on the year going into Thursday. No. 1 North Carolina turned the ball over a season-high 14 times.

Switching Sides:

UConn advanced to the championship game with victories over Oregon (83-59) and Alabama (82-67).
UConn (7-0) is off to its best start since the 2013-14 team started 9-0.
Junior Adama Sanogo, who had 25 points against Alabama, leads the Huskies in scoring (20.6) and rebounding (7.1), while three other Huskies are averaging in double figures -- sophomore Jordan Hawkins (13.0), senior Tristen Newton (12.6) and redshirt freshman Alex Karaban (10.4).
Until Sunday's game, UConn and Iowa State had only met in the NCAA Tournament. In the first round of the 2012 NCAA tourney, Iowa State defeated UConn, 77-64, in Louisville, UConn Coach Jim Calhoun's final game at UConn.

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Players Mentioned

Tamin Lipsey

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics