Iowa State Cyclones forward Milan Momcilovic (22) drives to the basket as Texas Tech Red Raiders guard Jaylen Petty (11) defends during the first half in the Big-12 conference men’s basketball against Texas Tech on Feb. 28, 2026, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
AMES — Sleep. Practice. Board a plane.
Those three states of being unfolded in rapid succession for the fourth-ranked Iowa State men’s basketball team in the wake of Saturday’s 82-73 home loss to No. 16 Texas Tech.
Next up: A momentous meeting with No. 2 Arizona at 8 p.m. Monday (ESPN) at the McKale Center in Tucson.
And the quick turnaround for the Cyclones (24-5, 11-5) — who suffered their first home defeat of the season on Saturday— suits them just fine.
“It’s a challenge, and that’s what’s great about the game of basketball, is we get a chance to bounce back and show what we weren’t able to show (on Saturday),” ISU’s record-setting senior point guard Tamin Lipsey said.
That’s the ability to set a physical tone from the opening jump. That’s what Cyclone head coach T.J. Otzelberger calls “imposing your will.” And that’s obviously very difficult to do against a surging Wildcats team (27-2, 14-2) that ranks fourth nationally in offensive rebounding percentage, according to KenPom.
“There’s probably not a team in the country that is better on the glass, and physically in the paint, than what they are,” Otzelberger said.
It’s also senior day for Arizona, who outrebounded No. 14 Kansas, 48-26, en route to an 84-61 runaway win on Saturday at home. The Cyclones, meanwhile, were outrebounded, 35-29, by the Red Raiders and have been outworked on the glass in each of their five losses.
“That’s something T.J. really emphasized before the game, rebounding,” said junior forward Milan Momcilovic, who sank five of his nine 3-point attempts in Saturday’s loss. “Win that battle, we’ll win the game. We came up short and I think that’s really disappointing.”
Arizona’s standout freshman forward, Koa Peat, returned for the Kansas game after missing the previous three games because of a muscle strain in his lower leg. He scored 12 points and was one of five Wildcats with six or more boards in the blowout win.
“Just trying to get back for my guys,” Peat told reporters on Saturday. “I told them, I was trying to get back for them so we can keep going and keep getting better.”
ISU’s simply trying to get back to being itself as a decided underdog for the first time this season. The Cyclones’ stern ball pressure produced just five points in the first half on Saturday as Texas Tech outpaced their rotations to create open shots they drained routinely en route to a 16-point halftime lead. So ISU will have to execute far better in that area to have a chance to shock the Wildcats at home, whose lone loss at the McKale Center this season came on Feb. 14 against the Red Raiders.
“We’ve got to be more physical,” Otzelberger said. “We’ve got to demand a collision. We’ve got to be into the ball.”
If the Cyclones revert to that toughness-based identity, there’s a chance they can at least be in position to win on Monday against the Wildcats. If they don’t, expect a result like Saturday’s, but either way, just two games stand between them and the postseason, so the time to shine brightest is now.
“I think just realizing that we’ve got more basketball ahead of is, especially as we get into March — that’s when you really want to lock in and play your best,” Lipsey said.
