Who: No. 7 Iowa State (26-7, 13-5 Large 12) vs. No. 1 Houston (30-3, 15-3 Large 12)
The place: T-Cell Heart (18,500) – Kansas Metropolis, Mo.
When: Saturday, March 16, 2024 – 5 p.m.
Tipping Off: For the sixth time in program historical past – and fifth time within the final ten years – Iowa State will play within the Phillips 66 Large 12 Championship Sport. The Cyclones are 5-0 all-time in Large 12 title video games.
With wins on Thursday and Friday evening, Iowa State has earned the third-most wins in a single season in program historical past. Simply the 1999-00 (32) and 2013-14 (28) groups have claimed extra single season wins in a Cyclone uniform.
Iowa State’s opponent within the championship recreation – Houston – is the top-ranked workforce within the nation and has received 11 straight contests with its final loss approaching Feb. 3 at Kansas. The Coogs are ranked because the consensus primary workforce in keeping with KenPom, ESPN’s BPI and the NET.
The 2 groups met twice this season, with the house workforce taking every recreation. The Cyclones handed Houston its first lack of the season again in January, whereas the Cougars returned the favor, downing Iowa State in House Metropolis on Feb. 19.
Not solely is tonight’s recreation a rubber match for the season sequence, however the Cyclones and Cougars are tied at 4 wins apiece of their eight different conferences. This shall be simply the second impartial web site assembly between the 2 groups, with Houston proudly owning a 1-0 file in impartial contests because it beat ISU in Charlotte in 1990.
Storylines:
- UNLV switch Keshon Gilbert, a St. Louis native, averages a team-best 13.7 factors per recreation and actually hit his stride within the latter half of the season.
- Gilbert recorded a triple-double in opposition to New Hampshire earlier this season, going for 10 factors, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
- His triple-double – the eighth at school historical past – places him with Lipsey, Haliburton, Monté Morris, Royce White, Jamaal Tinsley, Curtis Stinson and Marc Urquhart as members of the illustrious membership.
- Gilbert is first within the Large 12 in free throws tried (187) and second in FT made (136).
- He’s second on the workforce in assists (142) and steals (63).
- Gilbert has two Large 12 Newcomer of the Week awards to his identify this season.
- He is recorded a team-best eight 20-plus level outings.
- Gilbert recorded a triple-double in opposition to New Hampshire earlier this season, going for 10 factors, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
- Tamin Lipsey has been his common stat-stuffer self for the Cyclones to this point this yr, because the Ames native is averaging 12.4 factors per recreation to associate with team-highs in assists (155) and steals (87).
- Lipsey leads all Large 12 gamers in steals and steals per recreation.
- He’s fifth and fourth respectively, nationally, in these classes.
- Lipsey set the college file for steals in opposition to PVAMU, choosing the Panthers’ pockets eight instances.
- The earlier file, seven, was held by Fred Hoiberg and Justus Thigpen.
- He has recorded a steal in all however two video games in his profession.
- Towards DePaul, Lipsey recorded the seventh triple-double at school historical past, going for 15 factors, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.
- Lipsey turned the primary Cyclone since Tyrese Haliburton in 2020 to file a triple-double.
- Lipsey leads all Large 12 gamers in steals and steals per recreation.
- Iowa State freshman Milan Momcilovic has been a relentless throughout his rookie marketing campaign, because the first-year from Pewaukee is averaging 10.8 factors per recreation – the third-most on the workforce.
- He’s certainly one of 5 Cyclones to attain a minimum of 20 in a recreation this season.
- Momcilovic is averaging essentially the most factors per recreation by an ISU true freshman since Lindell Wigginton’s 16.7 in 2017-18.
- He’s the third highest-scoring true freshman within the Large 12, behind Baylor’s Ja’Kobe Walter and Yves Missi.
- Curtis Jones has been stellar off the bench within the again half of the season, establishing himself because the workforce’s sixth man and among the finest within the convention.
- Jones is the one ISU participant since 2012 to attain in double-figures in 13-straight video games off the bench.
- He had seven steals at TCU earlier this season in his lone begin, tying him for the second-most steals in a single recreation in Iowa State historical past.
- It is the primary time ever that two Cyclones recorded video games with seven-plus steals in a single season.
- Robert Jones leads the workforce in offensive rebounds (78) and blocks (31).
- Jones tied a season-high with 18 factors in opposition to Okay-State within the quarterfinals on Thursday night.
- Tre King leads the workforce in rebounds, because the senior out of Lexington, Ky., averages 5.1 per recreation and has a complete of 169 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 recreation (17.70) within the nation – tops within the Large 12.
- The Cyclones common 10.5 steals per recreation, additionally tops within the Large 12 and second within the nation.
- As a head coach, Otz is 166-97 general and has led the Cyclones to a 67-34 file during the last three seasons.
From the Notes:
- The Cyclones are the No. 2 seed within the match … that is the second time the Cyclones have been this seed, proudly owning a 5-0 file in these video games … ISU was additionally the No. 2 seed in 2015, because the Cyclones went 3-0 to win their second-straight Large 12 Championship.
- Iowa State has received 18-straight video games at Hilton Coliseum, the fifth longest lively dwelling profitable streak within the nation.
- ISU, McNeese and Samford are the one undefeated groups within the nation at dwelling with a minimum of 18 wins.
- Iowa State has received 15 of its final 21 video games on the match, profitable the title in 4 of the final 9 accomplished tournaments.
- Iowa State ranks second within the nation in turnover proportion at 25.9 %. ISU has been within the prime six within the nation in every of Otzelberger’s seasons, rating sixth in 2022 (24.6%) and second in 2023 (25%).
- Iowa State is certainly one of 4 faculties within the nation, and the one Energy Six college, to power 25 or extra turnovers in a number of video games in opposition to NCAA Division I opponents this season.
- Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert every have triple-doubles to their names this season – making ISU the one workforce within the nation with a number of gamers boasting a triple-double.
- There are actually eight at school historical past.
- Solely six gamers within the nation are averaging a minimum of 12.4 factors, 4.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.9 steals per recreation this season. Two of them reside within the Cyclone backcourt in Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert, with ISU being the one college within the nation with a number of gamers hitting these marks.
- Lipsey had a school-record steal streak of 34-straight video games snapped this season. It was the second longest streak within the nation. He has a steal in 63 of the 65 video games he has performed.
- The Cyclones are 29-1 below T.J. Otzelberger when 4 or extra gamers rating in double figures.
- The six highest-scoring Cyclone outputs below Otzelberger have all come this season, together with a pair of 100-point performances. 9 of the ten highest below Otz have additionally come this season.
- Otzelberger was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Coach of the 12 months. There are 10 semifinalists for the award. Final yr Otzelberger made it on to the late season watch listing of 15.
- The Cyclones have scored 90 or extra factors six instances this season. It’s the most instances hitting that mark in a season for the reason that 2016-17 workforce did so eight instances.
- As of this morning, the Cyclones are ranked No. 8 within the NET. The Cyclones slot in at No. 9 within the KenPom rankings and are No. 7 in ESPN’s Basketball Energy Index.
Switching Sides:
- In its first yr as a Large 12 establishment, Houston received the outright Large 12 common season title, incomes two extra convention wins than the second-place Cyclones.
- Houston was picked to complete second within the preseason ballot behind Kansas, incomes two first-place votes in its inaugural Large 12 basketball marketing campaign.
- The Coogs will compete of their convention title recreation for the sixth consecutive season, having been in five-straight American Convention title bouts previous to their first within the Large 12.
- Since 2017-18, the Cougars are the nation’s second-winningest workforce with a 205-37 file. Solely Gonzaga (211-29) has a better commonplace over that point.
- The Cougars personal the nation’s longest lively streak with 83 consecutive weeks within the AP Prime 25.
- Jamal Shead, an Honorable Point out Preseason All-Large 12 Workforce member, earned Big12 Participant of the 12 months in addition to Defensive Participant of the 12 months this previous week.
- He turns into the primary participant in Large 12 historical past to earn each in the identical season.
- Previous to this yr, Shead was the 2022-23 American Convention Defensive Participant of the 12 months.
- Houston has 9 returners from final season, three freshmen and two first-year transfers on the roster.
- Analytics love the Cougars, as they’re ranked No. 1 throughout the board within the NET, KenPom and ESPN’s Basketball Energy Index.
- Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson is in his tenth season on the helm of the Houston basketball program. Having 35 years of expertise as a head coach, Sampson and the Cougars are 262-77 throughout his tenure and he holds a 762-347 general file. His son, Kellen, is an assistant on employees.
- Sampson and the Cougars have gone to the final 5 NCAA Tournaments, making 4 visits to the Candy 16, two Elite Eight berths and one journey to the Closing 4 (2021).