Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Killyan Toure (27) reacts after a play during the second half against the Kentucky Wildcats during a second round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images
There’s a reason they call it the Sweet Sixteen. When your team makes it through the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament and to the second weekend, fans are supposed to have a few days to enjoy the great season their team has had before another weekend of high stress basketball.
The way this weekend went for Iowa State, things have turned into somewhat of a Salty Sixteen.
In what should have been the dream opening act with fireworks, cartwheels and layup lines against No. 15 seed Tennessee State, the men’s basketball team saw star player Joshua Jefferson go down with an ankle injury in the opening minutes. Obviously, it’s March Madness, you have to play your best players, yet in a game that ended up 108-74, it especially stung Cyclone nation that Jefferson suffered an injury in a game where his talents were far from necessary.
It was good to see freshman Killyan Toure get hot, cashing 25 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Big Blake Buchanan was also nothing short of spectacular with 11 points, seven rebounds and a whopping eight dimes.
To follow the act, the wrestling team took eighth at Nationals, significantly below their expectations. This drop was primarily due to a series of injuries and medical forfeitures, including an injury that cost Rocky Elam one last chance at an individual title run. Yonger Bastida made it through to the finals in his undefeated final season at heavyweight, but lost 5-0 to NC State’s fellow undefeated Isaac Trumble.
Despite the tough stretch on the mats, the weekend was not lost. Iowa State still had women’s and men’s basketball suiting up for more NCAA Tournament action.
Getting a second round date with 35-0 UConn was essentially going to be a death sentence for the Cyclone women, even if they did make it by Syracuse, but beating No. 8 seed Syracuse is something that should have been no problem from a talent perspective. Despite the high expectations the team entered the year with, they were ultimately sent home in the first round by the Orange 72-63.
Junior Audi Crooks went off for 37 points on 17-of-25 shooting. Crooks have faced some scrutiny this season on the defensive end this season; however, when the games mattered most, she shined her brightest.
No one else on the team that attempted more than one shot had an efficient day from the field, with the rest of the Cyclones shooting an abysmal 9-of-42 and 3-of-22 from deep. There were some factors behind the mid-season collapse, and while dragging superstar Addy Brown back from her injury was necessary to salvage a tournament run, it never felt like she sniffed 100% health.
The women’s team now faces a longer list of questions than your mom after you get home from a date this offseason, including the future of the wildly stacked junior class, solving what is wrong with the scheme that is hindering this talented roster from making tournament runs and where they go next.
The full attention of the team should now be directed to returning the top players for a senior season along with finding a couple of depth scoring pieces that can separate them from this year’s team.
As the weekend progressed, news on Jefferson’s injury continued to fill social media. It was announced that nothing was broken in his ankle, followed by his status being left up in the air for Sunday’s Round of 32 action. Finally, a few hours before game time, it was announced that Jefferson would not suit up.
Yes, this team can beat NCAA Tournament opponents without Jefferson. With that being said, can this team win a National Championship without him? Personally, I do not believe they can.
Jefferson is a staple on both ends. Where his presence is especially felt is during cold stretches offensively. He can score when he wants to, but he also draws so much gravity and is willing to hit the open man.
When Iowa State started 0-11 from beyond the arc against No. 7 seed Kentucky and went down by 12 points early, Jefferson’s absence was blatant. That is the type of struggle that cannot happen in an Elite Eight or Final Four game, as the nation’s best teams will pounce on you the second you begin having an affair with the back of the rim.
With or without Jefferson, though, Iowa State still has the bone crushing run potential. The Cyclones ended the first half on an 8-0 run capped by a Heise triple to lead 31-30 at the break. That run was stretched all the way to 47-17 in Iowa State’s 82-63 coast to a win.
Kentucky was fine in the shot-making department. It was the turnovers that made the difference. Iowa State’s defense was moving as well as it has all year long with the shorter starting lineup, as Nate Heise took over in the small forward slot, being pesky all day long. The Wildcats had a season high 20 turnovers to Iowa State’s seven.
Tamin Lipsey may have just played his best game as a Cyclone on Sunday, scoring a career high 26 points, tacking on 10 assists and snagging five steals.
The second half energy was only believable because TJ Otzelberger’s teams have shown it so many times before. Everything was on point, and the Cyclones will look to get over the hurdle of a Sweet Sixteen game for the first time since 2000.
Jefferson will be getting an MRI done at about the same time as this article hits the air waves, so it will be interesting to see what his outlook is for the road ahead.
The question now is if Jefferson does return this weekend, will it be the All-American level player we have come to expect or a shell of that due to the injury?
