No. 7 Iowa State vs. No. 14 Baylor Primer

Who: No. 7 Iowa State (25-7, 13-5 Big 12) vs. No. 14 Baylor (23-9, 11-7 Big 12)

Where: T-Mobile Center (18,500) – Kansas City, Mo.

When: Friday, March 15, 2024 – 8:30 p.m. CT

Tipping Off: For the second straight postseason, Iowa State and Baylor will meet in the Big 12 Championship. Last season, the two teams met in the quarterfinals where Iowa State won its third game of the season over the Bears by a score of 78-72.

This is the second straight season the Cyclones have won their opening round quarterfinal game in the Big 12 Championship. Second-seeded Iowa State, along with the other top three teams, advanced to Friday's semifinals by winning Thursday. While ISU is set to take on third-seeded Baylor, No. 1 Houston will match up with fourth-seeded Texas Tech.

No. 7 Iowa State led for nearly 36 minutes Thursday night, as the second-seeded Cyclones downed No. 10 Seed Kansas State 76-57 in the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Quarterfinals. Robert Jones tied a season-high with 18 points, while Tre King added 11. Keshon Gilbert finished with 12 points, five assists and six steals, as his six swipes tied an Iowa State conference tournament record.

The Cyclones and Bears will meet for the 49^th time Friday night, in a series that BU holds a 25-23 all-time record in. The two teams will match up as ranked foes for the seventh time. Iowa State is just 1-6 when the two teams are both ranked in the top 25. ISU has won four straight against the Bears in Kansas City.

Storylines:

UNLV transfer Keshon Gilbert, a St. Louis native, averages a team-best 13.5 points per game and really hit his stride in the latter half of the season.
- Gilbert recorded a triple-double against New Hampshire earlier this season, 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 first in the Big 12 in free throws attempted (182) and third in FT made (132).
  - He is second on the team in assists (135) and steals (61).
- Gilbert has two Big 12 Newcomer of the Week awards to his name this season.
- He's recorded a team-best seven 20-plus point outings.
Tamin Lipsey has been his usual stat-stuffer self for the Cyclones so far this year, as the Ames native is averaging 12.5 points per game to go along with team-highs in assists (149) and steals (85).
- Lipsey leads all Big 12 players in steals and steals per game.
  - He is fifth and fourth 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.
  - He has recorded a steal in all but two games in his career.
- 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 a constant during his rookie campaign, as the first-year from Pewaukee is averaging 10.8 points per game – the third-most on the team.
- 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 third highest-scoring true freshman in the Big 12, behind Baylor's Ja'Kobe Walter and Yves Missi.
Curtis Jones has been stellar off the bench in the back half of the season, scoring in double figures in 13 straight games as the team's sixth man.
- During that span, Jones averaged 13.5 points per game.
- Jones is the only ISU player since 2012 to score in double-figures in 13-straight games off the bench.
- He had seven steals at TCU earlier this season in his lone start, 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.
Robert Jones leads the team in offensive rebounds (78) and blocks (30).
- Jones tied a season-high with 18 points against K-State in the quarterfinals on Thursday evening.
Tre King leads the team in rebounds, as the senior out of Lexington, Ky., averages 5.2 per game and has a total of 167 boards.
Hason Ward, C. Jones, Jackson Paveletzke, Demarion Watson and Omaha Biliew make up the bench unit for the Cyclones.
Iowa State forces the second-most turnovers per game (17.84) in the country – tops in the Big 12.
- The Cyclones average 10.5 steals per game, also tops in the Big 12 and second in the country.
As a head coach, Otz is 165-97 overall and has led the Cyclones to a 66-34 record over the last three seasons.

From the Notes:

The Cyclones are the No. 2 seed in the tournament ... this is the second time the Cyclones have been this seed, owning a 4-0 record in these games ... ISU was also the No. 2 seed in 2015, as the Cyclones went 3-0 to win their second-straight Big 12 Championship.
Iowa State has won 18-straight games at Hilton Coliseum, the fifth longest active home winning streak in the country.
- ISU, McNeese and Samford are the only undefeated teams in the country at home with at least 18 wins.
Iowa State has won 14 of its last 20 games at the tournament, winning the title in four of the last nine completed tournaments.
Iowa State ranks second in the nation in turnover percentage at 26.1 percent. ISU has been in the top six in the country in each of Otzelberger's seasons, ranking sixth in 2022 (24.6%) and second in 2023 (25%).
Iowa State is one of four schools in the country, and the only Power Six school, to force 25 or more turnovers in multiple games against NCAA Division I opponents this season.
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.
Only six players in the country are averaging at least 12.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game this season. Two of them reside in the Cyclone backcourt in Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert, with ISU being the only school in the nation with multiple players hitting those marks.
Lipsey had a school-record steal streak of 34-straight games snapped this season. It was the second longest streak in the country. He has a steal in 62 of the 64 games he has played.
The Cyclones are 28-1 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.
Otzelberger was named to the Naismith Late Season Coach of the Year watchlist. It is the second-straight year he's been on the list that includes 15 coaches.
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 this morning, the Cyclones are ranked No. 9 in the NET. The Cyclones slot in at No. 9 in the KenPom rankings and are No. 7 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. BU finished tied for third with TTU but held the tiebreaker for a No. 3 seed in the Big 12 Championship.
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.
Overall, Baylor is making its eighth appearance in the Big 12 semifinals and first since the 2021 season.
- Baylor is 3-5 all time in the semifinal round, with its last win coming in an 86-69 win over third-seeded Texas in 2014.
BU is 32-15 against AP Top-25 opponents since 2019-20.
Baylor is currently ranked No. 14 in KenPom, No. 14 in the NET and No. 13 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 443-242 with BU and is 463-253 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.
- Drew is tied for the longest tenured Big 12's head coach. He has faced ISU 27 times since he took over Baylor in 2003 and has an 11-16 record.

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Players Mentioned

Omaha Biliew

Keshon Gilbert

Curtis Jones

Robert Jones

Tre King

Tamin Lipsey

Milan Momcilovic

Jackson Paveletzke

Hason Ward

Demarion Watson

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