CHICAGO — It’s a cruel joke at this point, and Iowa State men’s basketball was the recipient of the devastating punchline. For the second straight year, the Cyclones’ postseason was impacted by an untimely injury.
Last year Iowa State guard Keshon Gilbert missed the NCAA Tournament due to a groin injury, and guard Tamin Lipsey was playing through a groin injury of his own. This time it was All-American forward Joshua Jefferson. His ankle injury and the Cyclones’ season-ending loss in the Sweet 16 invoked memories of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, when standout Georges Niang broke his foot and Iowa State scraped its way to a Sweet 16 before falling to eventual champion UConn.
United Center in Chicago also hasn’t been a kind NCAA Tournament destination for Iowa State. The Cyclones have played in the Sweet 16 there on three separate occasions, coming up empty-handed in 2016, 2022 and now 2026.
The second-seeded Cyclones’ season came to an end after a 76-62 loss to sixth-seeded Tennessee on March 27. It was a somber ending after a 2025-26 campaign that featured plenty of highs and memorable moments.
“Congratulations to Tennessee, coach (Rick) Barnes, their program is first-class,” Cyclones coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “Just a lot of respect for them. They’re a very good team, certainly the better team tonight.
“On the other side, really proud of our group. Again, for us, we aim every night to lay it on the line. I feel like our guys do that every night. Proud of our team. Our performance tonight doesn’t diminish anything we accomplished this season, and really proud of this group. Been as enjoyable group to be around as I’ve ever had, tough to have it come to an end.”
The Cyclones finished 29-8 overall. They finished in a three-way tie for third-place in the Big 12 during the regular season with a 12-6 record. After being saddled with the short end of the tiebreaker procedures, Iowa State reached the semifinal as a 5-seed, where it lost to Big 12 regular-season and tournament champion Arizona on a buzzer-beater. In the NCAA Tournament, the Cyclones advanced to their third Sweet 16 in five years, but the search continues for the program’s first Elite Eight appearance since 2000.
Here is a look at Iowa State men’s basketball season:
Iowa State basketball 2025-26 individual accolades
The Cyclones had three players earn All-Big 12 honors. Joshua Jefferson became the fifth player in Iowa State history to earn consensus All-American status and is the first to do so since Georges Niang in 2016.
Here is a look at the award winners:
Joshua Jefferson
Tamin Lipsey
Milan Momcilovic
Jefferson unfortunately never got the final curtain call to wrap up his career and get a senior sendoff. He suffered a bad ankle sprain in the first few minutes of the Cyclones’ NCAA Tournament opening-round rout of Tennessee State. Jefferson underwent rigorous treatment and rehabilitation in an attempt to possibly get a chance to play, but the injury was too severe.
He missed Iowa State’s second-round win over Kentucky and the season-ending Sweet 16 loss to Tennessee. Those were the only two games Jefferson had missed for Iowa State since arriving for the 2024-25 season.
With his versatility, skillset and consistency, Jefferson was the Cyclones’ most valuable player this year, and he has the accolades to boot. In addition to becoming the Cyclones’ first consensus second-team All-American since Georges Niang in 2016, he became only the third Iowa State player to receive first-team All-American honors by one of the four major organizations — Associated Press, NABC, Sporting News or USBWA.
Jefferson was a first-team All-American by the Sporting News. Only Gary Thompson (1957, AP first-team All-American) and Marcus Fizer (2000, AP first-team All-American) have achieved that feat. The 6-foot-9 senior also became the first Cyclone to record multiple triple-doubles in a single season.
He scored 1,029 points and grabbed 519 rebounds in two seasons at Iowa State.
Lipsey added even more awards to his lengthy, distinguished career. He was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team for the third season in a row. The Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year also earned his third all-conference distinction, landing on the second team after placing on the third team last year and first-team All-Big 12 in 2023-24.
The hometown hero played and started in 137 games over his four years as a Cyclone. He wrapped up his career with 1,507 points, 518 rebounds, 602 assists and a school-record 314 steals.
As for Momcilovic, he enjoyed a career year as a junior. Momcilovic averaged a team-high 16.9 points per game, while shooting 50.6% overall and 48.6% from deep, the best 3-point shooting percentage in the country. He also broke the program record for most 3-pointers in a single season, finishing with 136 made treys. Momcilovic only had 124 total 3-pointers through his freshman and sophomore seasons.
High point: Iowa State getting top-10 wins over Kansas, Houston in three-day stretch
There’s certainly an argument to be made for the high point coming during the Cyclones’ best start in program history, as they won the first 16 games of the season. During this stretch, Iowa State went undefeated at the Players Era Festival and it followed up with a big-time beatdown of then-No. 1 Purdue, silencing the Mackey Arena crowd in an 81-58 victory on Dec. 6.
However, the Cyclones’ marquee victories over top 10-ranked Kansas and Houston saw Iowa State pick up quality wins and Hilton Coliseum reach new heights in a 72-hour stretch.
Iowa State was able to regroup after a disappointing loss to TCU on the road. First, the Cyclones dispatched Kansas, who was the No. 10-ranked team at the time, in a 74-56 win on Feb. 14. Iowa State avenged an earlier loss at Allen Fieldhouse to the Jayhawks, and it didn’t have many issues dealing with a Kansas team that entered with serious momentum and an eight-game winning streak.
Momcilovic had a game-high 18 points and shot 4-of-9 from deep, while Jefferson, Lipsey Blake Buchanan and Jamarion Batemon each had 11 points in the winning effort. Defensively, the Cyclones limited the Jayhawks to tying a regular season-low 56 points. They also held the Jayhawks to shooting 37.3% overall, which was their lowest shooting percentage in conference play at the time.
Against Houston on Feb. 16, the Cyclones rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half and defeated then-No. 2 Houston, 70-67, in front of a spirited Hilton Coliseum crowd.
Iowa State went on a 10-0 game-tying run that was capped with 3:45 remaining, when Lipsey went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.
It was a back-and-forth battle. Batemon, who broke the Cyclones’ 3-point shooting drought, drilled a late-game 3-pointer to take the lead. Houston quickly answered back to regain a 67-66 lead, but Nate Heise hit the decisive go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:17 left. The Cyclones held firm from there, with some insurance free throws by Jefferson and a key rebound by Lipsey.
Jefferson finished with 12 points, six boards, five assists and a block. Heise had 11 points off the bench and went a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Buchanan added 10 points, four boards and a block. Lipsey added nine points, eight rebounds, four assists and a steal. Pleta and Momcilovic each had eight points, while Batemon had six.
Low point: Loss at Cincinnati after 21-point loss at Kansas
After a program-best 16-0 start, the Cyclones suffered their first losses of the year.
Iowa State was chased off the court at Allen Fieldhouse, where the Cyclones suffered an 84-63 loss on Jan. 13. Although the Cyclones were frustrated in the loss, the venue has historically been a difficult place for Iowa State to play. The lopsided result was far from desired, especially as Kansas pounced all over the Cyclones.
However, the next game, a 79-70 loss against Cincinnati expounded more issues for the Cyclones. At that time, the Bearcats were 9-8 overall and 1-3 in Big 12 play entering the Jan. 17 contest.
Cincinnati took a 19-8 lead with 12:07 remaining in the first half after an early 14-0 run. The Bearcats held the lead the entire way from there.
In both losses to Kansas and Cincinnati, the Cyclones lost the rebounding battle and their opponents were poised under pressure. Kansas only had nine turnovers, while Cincinnati coughed the ball up eight times.
Both losses also illuminated the Cyclones’ struggles offensively in half-court sets. However, against Cincinnati, Milan Momcilovic was a bright spot. He netted a career-high 34 points and drilled eight 3-pointers. There weren’t many other positives in the loss besides him, and Cincinnati fans stormed the court after upsetting then-No. 2 Iowa State.
The loss to Cincinnati ended up being the Cyclones’ only loss to a team that didn’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament this season.
Could have used: Better luck with injuries
Once again, Iowa State will have to think about the what-ifs and what-could-have-beens. Last year, the Cyclones had injuries affect multiple players. This year, the Cyclones went mostly unscathed until a fluke ankle injury to Jefferson in the opening minutes of the NCAA Tournament first-round game against 15-seed Tennessee State drastically altered the Cyclones’ ceiling and postseason hopes.
The parallels to the 2013-14 season were evident. In that year, Georges Niang broke his foot in the first-round game. The Cyclones managed to get past blue-blooded North Carolina in the second round, much like how this year’s Cyclones were able to advance past Kentucky.
The Niang-less Cyclones fell to eventual national champion UConn in the Sweet 16. Meanwhile, the Jefferson-less Cyclones lost to Tennessee in the Sweet 16.
Despite his best efforts to recover in time, Jefferson shared after the loss to Tennessee that it was unlikely he would have even been available to play in the Elite Eight, if the Cyclones had advanced.
This year’s Iowa State team had the pieces to go even further, when healthy. The Cyclones had a strong veteran core of Lipsey, Jeffereson, Heise and Momcilovic, with a solid newcomer at center in Blake Buchanan, plus three freshmen who played meaningful minutes in starter Killyan Toure and rotational players Jamarion Batemon and Dominykas Pleta.
Looking ahead
The transfer portal doesn’t open until after the national championship game. The portal window this year is April 7-21. That will play a role in the Cyclones’ future.
Momcilovic will likely test the NBA waters. His potential return will give the Cyclones a player to prominently build their offense around.
After Momcilovic, Buchanan, Pleta, Batemon and Toure — prominent players with remaining eligibility — plan on running it back with Iowa State next season, for now.
The same goes for head coach T.J. Otzelberger, who addressed job rumors and adamantly reaffirmed his commitment to Iowa State when asked by reporters during the week of the Sweet 16.
Lipsey, Heise, Jefferson, Eric Mulder and Dominick Nelson wrapped up their collegiate careers and have run out of eligibility.
Next year, the Cyclones will welcome another four-man recruiting class. Iowa State has four-star commits Christian Wiggins, Dorian Rinaldo-Komlan and Jackson Kiss, as well as three-star guard Yusef Gray Jr.
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State basketball 2025-26 season recap, MVP, high point, looking ahead
Reporting by Eugene Rapay, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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