Season Recap: Men's Basketball

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State completed its second season under head coach T.J. Otzelberger with a 19-14 overall record and 9-9 Big 12 record. The Cyclones advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 22nd time overall and the second time under Otzelberger.

KEY STORYLINES
-Four Cyclones were honored by the Big 12 coaches. Gabe Kalscheur earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors and was also named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. Jaren Holmes was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention, while also earning a spot on the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team. Osun Osunniyi also earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors. Tamin Lipsey picked up a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
-Tamin Lipsey averaged 7.3 points, 4.4 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 2.45 turnovers per game. He was one of two players in the country to average those numbers this season and just the ninth in the last 10 years to do so.
-Iowa State led the nation with six wins over AP Top 10 schools this season. The Cyclones were one of two teams to have eight or more wins against AP Top 25 teams this season, as Texas (10) and Iowa State (9) led the country. The nine AP Top 25 victories are tied for the most in school history in a season.
-Osun Osunniyi finished his career with 1,372 points, 1,027 rebounds and 340 blocked shots. He is one of just 10 players in the last 25 years to put up those numbers in a career in NCAA Division I. Osunniyi and TCU's Kevin Samuel are the only two players to have tallied those numbers in Big 12 history.
-Lipsey has been named a finalist for the Kyle Macy Award, given to the nation's top freshman. This is the second-straight year ISU has had a finalist for the year. Lipsey tallied 73 steals this year, the third-most ever by a Cyclone and the most by a freshman. Lipsey was third in the nation in assists per game and total steals among freshman.
-Kalscheur earned NABC All-District 8 Second Team honors. He was also named to the Reece's College All-Star Game, where he helped the West Team to a win.
-For the third-straight year, ISU played the eventual National Champion (UConn) during the season. Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Villanova are the only three schools have that done so each of the past three seasons. Baylor (2021), Kansas (2022) and UConn (2023) have won the last three national titles.
-Iowa State held all but one (Texas Tech-Overtime) Big 12 opponent below its season scoring average. That total included holding No. 8 Kansas to 53 points, the lowest conference total under Bill Self. The Cyclones held their opponents to a league-best 62.6 points per game this season.
-Over the last two seasons, Iowa State is 24-5 against non-conference opponents. The 24 victories is tied for the 10th-most victories in the country and the .828 winning percentage is tied for the ninth-best in the nation.
-Gabe Kalscheur played 57 games in his career against ranked opponents, the most by any player in the country going back to 1996. He held a 26-31 record in those games, the third-most wins in the nation among active players.
-T.J. Otzelberger joined Tim Floyd and Steve Prohm as the only Cyclone coaches to lead the team to the NCAA Tournament in their first two years as head coach. Otzelberger will look to join Floyd next season as the only coaches to do some in their first three years.
-Iowa State signed the highest-ranked recruiting class in school history this year. The class is a consensus Top 10 class by ESPN (8th), 247 (9th) and Rivals (10th). Five-star signee Omaha Biliew and four-star signee Milan Momcilovic were named to the Jersey Mike's Naismith High School Boys Preseason Watch List. Biliew was named to the McDonald's All-American Game, becoming the third Cyclone signee named to the game.

Players Mentioned

Jaren Holmes

Gabe Kalscheur

Tamin Lipsey

Osun Osunniyi

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics