March 7, 2026; Ames, Iowa, USA; Arizona Sun Devils guard Maurice Odom (5) is defended by Iowa State Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey (3) during the second half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Image Fifth-seeded Iowa State will seek a return to the NCAA Tournament when it faces upset 12th-seeded Arizona State in the second round of the Big 12 Conference Tournament on Wednesday in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Cyclones (25-6), ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, finished fifth in a tough regular season in the Big 12 and missed the second round. Arizona State (17-15) defeated 13th-seeded Baylor 83-79 in the first round on Tuesday.
Iowa State and Arizona State played in the regular season finale on Saturday, and the Cyclones cruised to an 86-65 home win thanks to a balanced offensive attack and stifling defense.
The Sun Devils led by four points in the first half, but fell flat in the second half, allowing 24 straight points to the Cyclones and missing 12 straight shots without a field goal in 10 minutes and 42 seconds.
Arizona State’s win on Tuesday saw Anthony “Pig” Johnson get 19 points off the bench and the Sun Devils’ role players step up to fill the void left by leading scorer Maurice Odum, who was tied up in foul trouble in the first half.
Andrija Grbovic added 14 points for Arizona State on Tuesday, Santiago Trué had 13 points and nine rebounds, Noah Miussen had 12 points and Massamba Diop had 11.
“I would be really surprised if I walked into the locker room at halftime most days of the year and found out at halftime against Baylor that I had nine points and Moe Odum had zero points,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. “This is proof that people are coming together, other people are helping us.
“I think we handled the last 48 hours leading up to this game very well in terms of getting the guys physically ready after the Iowa State loss, and the guys responded like they have all year.”
Iowa State enters the tournament off the back of a win over Arizona State on Saturday. Tamin Lipsey, Milan Momcilovic and Joshua Jefferson each had 16 points, Jamarion Bateman had 13 and Dominikas Fleta had 11.
Momcilovic leads the Cyclones with 17.0 points per game, while Jefferson averages 16.6 points per contest and Lipsey averages 13.3 points per contest.
Iowa State coach TJ Otzelberger expects his team to respond in a big way in this tournament based on their level of consistency this season and their prowess against tough opponents.
The Cyclones opened the season on a 16-game winning streak and lost to Big East regular season champion St. Louis. It included home wins over then-No. 1 St. John’s and Big Ten powerhouse Purdue. 9 Kansas And at that time, no. 2 Houston has had back-to-back games in the past month.
“Those were all really well-played games and we won them in a variety of ways,” Otzelberger said. “Getting into an environment like this gives us confidence that we can put in the effort and play our best. We’ve shown ourselves that we can play really well at the point this season.”
–Field level media
