No. 14 Iowa State at Texas Primer

Who: No. 14 Iowa State (16-5, 5-3 Big 12) at Texas (15-7, 4-5 Big 12)

Where: Moody Center (10,763) – Austin, Texas

When: Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024 – 7 p.m.

Tipping Off: Iowa State looks to get back on track Tuesday night, as the Cyclones are coming off of a heartbreaking 70-68 loss at No. 18 Baylor over the weekend. Tuesday's game in Austin will wrap up the two-game Texas trip before the Cyclones return for a Saturday home game against TCU.

ISU and UT will meet for the 49th time on Tuesday in a series where the Longhorns hold the all-time advantage. This week's game will be the only meeting of the season, as the two teams won't meet twice in the regular season for the first time since 2011. The home team has won each of the last four meetings.

Storylines:

UNLV transfer Keshon Gilbert, a St. Louis native, averages a team-best 14.2 points per game and has been on a tear as of late.
- He has averaged 18.2 points per contest over the last five, along with 6.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. Gilbert is also shooting 43.5 percent from deep during that span.
- 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.
- Gilbert is second in the Big 12 in free throws attempted (117) and sixth in FT made (83).
  - He is second on the team in assists (87) and third in steals (37).
- He's recorded a team-best six 20-plus point outings.
Tamin Lipsey has been a stat-stuffer for the Cyclones so far this year, as the Ames native is averaging 13.6 points per game to go along with team-highs in assists (112), steals (61) and minutes played per game (31).
- Lipsey leads all Big 12 players in steals and steals per game.
  - He is sixth and third respectively, nationally, in those categories.
- 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.
Iowa State freshman Milan Momcilovic has been having a solid rookie campaign, as the first-year from Pewaukee is averaging 12.9 points per game.
- Momcilovic has a team-high 42 3-pointers and shoots it at a 40 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 (51), field goal percentage (65.5%) and blocks (20).
Tre King leads the team in rebounds, as the senior out of Lexington, Ky., averages 5.5 per game and has a total of 115 boards.
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 scored in double figures in the last four games.
- He had seven steals at 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 156-95 overall and has led the Cyclones to a 57-32 record over the last three seasons.

From the Notes:

Only eight players in the country are averaging at least 13.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game this season. Two of them reside in the Cyclone backcourt in Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert.
Lipsey has a steal in 33 straight games, the second-longest active streak in the nation and the longest in school history. He has a steal in 52 of the 53 games he has played.
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 Monday, the Cyclones are ranked No. 11 in the NET. The Cyclones slot in at No. 14 in the KenPom rankings and are No. 8 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index.

Switching Sides:

The Longhorns were picked to finish third in the Big 12 Preseason Poll, slotting behind Kansas and Houston.
Texas returned eight players from last year's roster, added three freshmen and welcomed five transfers.
- Among those transfers is Max Abmas, who is the NCAA active scoring leader who is a three-time honorable mention All-American.
- Abmas, as well as returners Dylan Disu and Tyrese Hunter lead the team in scoring.
  - Abmas is third in the conference in terms of points per game with 17.9 and he's averaging 18.9 in conference games.
  - Abmas earned Preseason All-Big 12 Team honors and has won three Newcomer of the Week awards.
  - Abmas has made the second-most 3-pointers in the conference with 67, just one behind Houston's LJ Cryer.
UT wing Dillon Mitchell averages the second-most rebounds in the conference at 8.8 behind only KU's Hunter Dickinson.
When Texas faces Iowa State, the Longhorns will be facing their sixth-straight ranked opponent. They're 3-2 in the previous five and are 1-1 at home.
Texas is currently ranked No. 26 in KenPom, No. 31 in the NET and No. 21 in ESPN's College Basketball Power Index.
Longhorn head coach Rodney Terry is in his second season at the helm of the UT basketball program. Terry is 37-15 with Texas and is 200-171 in his 12-year coaching career.
- Terry took over last season on Dec. 12 after the previous coach, Chris Beard, was fired.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Omaha Biliew

Keshon Gilbert

Curtis Jones

Robert Jones

Tre King

Tamin Lipsey

Milan Momcilovic

Jackson Paveletzke

Demarion Watson

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics