NCAA Tournament Primer: South Dakota State

Who: No. 4 Iowa State (27-7, 13-5 Big 12) vs. South Dakota State (22-12, 12-4 Summit)

Where: CHI Health Center (17,560) – Omaha, Neb.

When: Thursday, March 21, 2024 – 6:35 p.m.

Tipping Off: No. 4 Iowa State enters the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd time in school history and the seventh time as an Automatic Qualifier after winning the Big 12 Championship over the weekend. At No. 4 in the AP Top 25, this is the highest ISU has ever been ranked entering the tournament.

The top-five Cyclones earned a No. 2 seed in the East Region in Sunday's Selection Show. This is the third time in the history of the program that the Cyclones have earned a number two seed – the highest by any team in school history. The Cyclones have reached 10 NCAA Tournaments since 2012, one of 10 teams in the field this year to do so.

ISU currently owns the third-most wins in a single season in program history with 27. One more win would tie ISU for the second-most in school history, while it would take five to tie the school benchmark at 32.

Iowa State cruised to the Big 12 Championship over the weekend, winning all three games by an average of 17 points. Those wins included two over top 15 teams. Keshon Gilbert was named the Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player, while Tamin Lipsey and Milan Momcilovic were named to the All-Championship Team.

The Cyclones and their opponents – the Summit League tourney and regular season champion South Dakota State Jackrabbits – have met seven times. SDSU has taken the last two matchups, but the Cyclones hold the all-time series advantage, 5-2.

Storylines:

In dominating fashion, No. 7 Iowa State blasted No. 1 Houston 69-41 Saturday night to win the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. It was the fifth time in the last 10 tournaments Iowa State has won the title, while picking up its sixth overall.
- Iowa State held the Cougars to just 26.8 percent shooting from the field (15-56) to hand the Cougars their worst loss of the Kelvin Sampson era, as well as the largest margin of victory ever in a Big 12 Championship game.
- The win also marked Iowa State's fourth-ever win against a No. 1 team.
Iowa State has a 14-8 all-time record in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
- Overall, the Cyclones are 21-22 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
Coach Otzelberger is the eighth coach at ISU to lead the team to the NCAA Tournament and just the second to do so in each of his first three seasons (joining Tim Floyd).
Keshon Gilbert has been Iowa State's best player in the back half of the season, as he's become the team's leading scorer, averaging 13.8 points per game.
- 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 (189) and second in FT made (138).
  - He is second on the team in assists (145) and steals (66).
- Gilbert has two Big 12 Newcomer of the Week awards to his name this season.
- He's recorded a team-best eight 20-plus point outings.
AP Honorable Mention All-American Tamin Lipsey is the heartbeat of the team, as the Ames native averages 12.3 points per game to go along with team-highs in assists (161) and steals (91).
- Lipsey leads all Big 12 players in steals and steals per game.
  - He is fourth, 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.
Cyclone freshman Milan Momcilovic has been a smooth scorer off the wing for ISU, averaging eleven points per contest.
- 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.
Sixth man Curtis Jones has been stellar off the bench for the Cyclones, starting the year as a defensive stopped and eventually coming into his own on offense where he now averages 10.5 points per game.
- Jones is the only ISU player since 2012 to record double-figure scoring outputs in 13-straight games off the bench which he did earlier this season.
- 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 (79) and blocks (32).
Tre King leads the team in rebounds, as the senior out of Lexington, Ky., averages 5.2 per game and has a total of 178 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 (17.53) in the country – tops in the Big 12.
- The Cyclones average 10.4 steals per game, also tops in the Big 12 and second in the country.
As a head coach, Otz is 167-97 overall and has led the Cyclones to a 68-34 record over the last three seasons.

From the Notes:

A trio of Cyclones earned honors from the Big 12. Lipsey was an All-Big 12 First Team selection, while Gilbert was named to the second team. Lipsey was a unanimous selection to the All-Defensive Team, while Gilbert was named to the All-Newcomer Team. Momcilovic was named to the All-Freshman Team.
- Lipsey was named an AP Honorable Mention All-American and also earned a spot on the NABC All-District 8 Team.
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 six Big 12 Tournaments now in the last 11 seasons.
Iowa State ranks second in the nation in turnover percentage at 25.7 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 12.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.3 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 64 of the 66 games he has played.
The Cyclones are 29-1 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 a semifinalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year. There are 10 semifinalists for the award. Last year Otzelberger made it on to the late season watch list of 15.
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 Wednesday morning, the Cyclones are ranked No. 6 in the NET. The Cyclones slot in at No. 5 in the KenPom rankings and are No. 6 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index.

Switching Sides:

The connections are deep for this one. Starting with the big one, Iowa State Head Coach T.J. Otzelberger earned his first head coaching job at SDSU, leading the Jacks to a 70-33 overall record and 35-11 record in the Summit League in three years as head coach. SDSU made the postseason in all three years (2 NCAA, 1 NIT), while winning a pair of Summit League titles.
- Current SDSU Head Coach Eric Henderson was promoted to head coach when Otz left to be the head coach at UNLV.
- Henderson had been on staff for the three years Otz was head coach. Henderson was also a member of the Iowa State coaching staff from 2006-09.
SDSU Assistant Coach Bryan Petersen played two years at Iowa State (2007-09), starting all 64 games he appeared in for the Cyclones.
- He averaged 6.2 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, while having 178 assists and 48 steals. He shot .380 from deep, connecting on 97 3-pointers.
The Jackrabbits enter March Madness after claiming The Summit League's regular season and tournament titles. SDSU went 12-4 in conference play, sealing the regular season crown in the second-to-last game of the slate.
- It was the ninth regular season title for the program in the past 12 seasons, tying The Summit League record among men's team's all-time with Valparaiso.
SDSU is led by a pair of dynamic, conference award-winning players in Zeke Mayo and William Kyle III.
- Mayo, a native of Lawrence, Kan., earned the Summit League Player of the Year, as well as first team honors.
- Kyle was also named to the first team, as well as the All-Defensive Team and to top it off, was named the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year.
  - Jackrabbit guard Charlie Easley was also named to the All-Defensive Team.
South Dakota State is undefeated when holding its opponents to under 70 points on the year.
South Dakota State slots in at No. 134 in KenPom, No. 152 in ESPN's BPI and No. 135 in the NET.
SDSU head coach Brian Petersen is in his fifth season at the helm of the Jackrabbit basketball program. The Jacks are 109-47 during his tenure and he has now taken the team to two NCAA Tournament appearances.
- SDSU has never won an NCAA Tournament game and has been seeded 12-16 in seven appearances now.

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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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