No. 12 Iowa State at No. 18 Baylor Primer

Saturday, February 3

Waco, Texas

7:00 PM

Iowa State

Baylor

Photo by: LUKE LU @KL6PHOTO

No. 12 Iowa State at No. 18 Baylor Primer

02.02.2024 | Men's Basketball

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Who: No. 12 Iowa State (16-4, 5-2 Big 12) at No. 18 Baylor (16-4, 4-3 Big 12)

Where: Foster Pavilion (7,500) – Waco, Texas

When: Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024 – 7 p.m.

Tipping Off: Winners of three straight, Iowa State heads down I-35 for a Saturday night Big 12 showdown with the nationally ranked Baylor Bears. Iowa State will look to make it four straight wins over the Bears, as ISU won all three matchups last season.

Iowa State and Baylor will meet for the 48th time on Saturday in a series that historically has been very even. The Bears hold the all-time series edge, 24-23, and are 17-3 in Waco against the Cyclones. This will be the first season ISU and BU don't play each other twice in the regular season since 2011, as the Bears won't be returning the visit to Ames.

Storylines:

Tamin Lipsey has been the catalyst for the Cyclones so far this year, as the Ames native is averaging a team-best 13.9 points per game. He leads the team in assists (109), steals (59) and minutes played per game (31).
- Lipsey lost his title of most minutes played after missing the last road game at TCU.
- Lipsey leads all Big 12 players in steals and steals per game.
  - He is seventh and second respectively, nationally, in those categories.
  - He has a steal in 32 straight games, the longest streak in ISU history and the second longest current streak in the nation.
- Lipsey set the school record for steals against PVAMU, picking the Panthers' pockets eight times.
  - The previous record, seven, was held by Fred Hoiberg and Justus Thigpen.
- Against DePaul, Lipsey recorded the seventh triple-double in school history, going for 15 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.
  - Lipsey became the first Cyclone since Tyrese Haliburton in 2020 to record a triple-double.
UNLV transfer Keshon Gilbert, a St. Louis native, averages 13.7 points per game and has the second most points on the team.
- Gilbert recorded a triple-double against New Hampshire, going for 10 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
  - His triple-double – the eighth in school history – puts him with Lipsey, Haliburton, Monté Morris, Royce White, Jamaal Tinsley, Curtis Stinson and Marc Urquhart as members of the illustrious club.
- He has averaged 16.8 points per contest over the last four, along with 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game as the Cyclones are 3-1 over that stretch.
- Gilbert is second in the Big 12 in free throws attempted (109) and sixth in FT made (78).
  - He is second on the team in both assists (85) and third in steals (35).
- Gilbert has the second most Big 12 Newcomer of the Week awards this season, behind Kansas's Hunter Dickinson.
- He's recorded a team-best five 20-plus point outings.
Iowa State freshman Milan Momcilovic has been having a solid freshman campaign, as the rookie from Pewaukee is averaging 13.1 points per game.
- Momcilovic has a team-high 42 3-pointers and shoots it at a 40.8 percent clip.
- He is one of five Cyclones to score at least 20 in a game this season.
- Momcilovic is averaging the most points per game by an ISU true freshman since Lindell Wigginton's 16.7 in 2017-18.
  - He is the second highest-scoring true freshman in the Big 12, behind Baylor's Ja'Kobe Walter.
Robert Jones leads the team in offensive rebounds (45), field goal percentage (66.7%) and blocks (19).
Tre King leads the team in rebounds, as the senior out of Lexington, Ky., averages 5.5 per game and has a total of 110 boards.
Hason Ward has returned to action after missing nine games with an injury and has been a force on the defensive end and at the rim offensively in his time back.
Ward, Curtis Jones, Jackson Paveletzke, Demarion Watson and Omaha Biliew make up the bench unit for the Cyclones.
C. Jones has been stellar off the bench in the last three games.
- He's averaging 16.7 points over his last three outings along with 3.3 steals and 2.7 assists per game.
- He had seven steals against TCU, tying him for the second-most steals in a single game in Iowa State history.
  - It's the first time ever that two Cyclones recorded games with seven-plus steals in a single season.
As a head coach, Otz is 156-94 overall and has led the Cyclones to a 57-31 record over the last three seasons.

From the Notes:

Winners of five of its last six, Iowa State will face off with its sixth ranked Big 12 opponent on Saturday.
- Iowa State will look to notch its fourth-straight Big 12 victory, a feat which its only achieved three times in the last six years.
The last time these two teams met in Waco, Iowa State defeated Baylor on the Bears' Senior Night behind 16 points and seven rebounds from Jaren Holmes.
Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert each have triple-doubles to their names this season - making ISU the only team in the country with multiple players boasting a triple-double.
- There are now eight in school history.
The Cyclones are 24-1 under T.J. Otzelberger when four or more players score in double figures.
The six highest-scoring Cyclone outputs under Otzelberger have all come this season, including a pair of 100-point performances. Nine of the 10 highest under Otz have also come this season.
The Cyclones have scored 90 or more points six times this season. It is the most times hitting that mark in a season since the 2016-17 team did so eight times.
As of Friday, the Cyclones are ranked No. 10 in the NET. The Cyclones slot in at No. 13 in the KenPom rankings and are No. 8 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index.

Switching Sides:

The Bears were picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 Preseason Poll, slotting behind Kansas, Houston and Texas.
Baylor returned six players from last year's roster, added four freshmen and welcomed three transfers.
- Among those freshmen is Ja'Kobe Walter, who leads all Big 12 rookies in scoring.
- Walter, along with returner Jalen Bridges and newcomer RayJ Dennis, earned Preseason All-Big 12 Team Honorable Mention honors.
Both Walter and Dennis have earned Big 12 weekly honors as Dennis has a Newcomer of the Week award and Walter has a Player of the Week honor.
Earlier this season, BU canned 19 triples against Mississippi Valley State – a Big 12 season-high.
- Two of the three most efficient 3-point outings in the Big 12 have come from Baylor this season (63% vs. Mississippi Valley State and 61% vs. Nicholls).
BU is 28-12 against AP Top-25 opponents since 2019-20 and is 12-3 at home against said opponents.
Iowa State will make its first appearance in the Foster Pavilion, Baylor's new home court, as the team had previously played in the Ferrell Center which the Bears used from 1988-2023.
Baylor is currently ranked No. 16 in KenPom, No. 16 in the NET and No. 15 in ESPN's College Basketball Power Index.
Baylor head coach Scott Drew is in his 21st season at the helm of the Bear basketball program. Drew is 455-249 with BU and is 435-238 in his 22-year coaching career.
- Drew, a three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year recipient, led the Bears to a National Championship in 2021.