The Jackrabbits are going dancing for the seventh time in program history and enter the NCAA “March Madness” tournament as a No. 15 seed, taking on the No. 2 seed Iowa State Cyclones.
This will be the eighth all-time meeting between the two teams with ISU leading the series 5-2, but the Jacks have won the last two meetings. Back in 2008, SDSU took down the Cyclones in Ames, IA, 65-58, and most recently knocked them off in the 2020 season, 71-68.
But this time around, Iowa State is a much better team than the Jacks saw in years past.
ISU was ranked at No. 4 in the most recent AP Top 25 poll and is one of the odds-on favorites to win the Big Dance.
Tip-off between the Jacks and Cyclones at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, NE, is slated for 6.35 p.m. Thursday and can be watched on truTV.
Iowa State
ISU heads into the NCAA tournament with a 27-7 overall record, led by a familiar face in former Jackrabbit men’s basketball head coach T.J. Otzelberger.
Otzelberger coached the Jacks for three seasons from 2016-2018, where he led them to two NCAA tournament appearances and one NIT tournament appearance.
Now as the head man of the Cyclones, coach Otzelberger gets a chance to face off against his former team, and his former assistant coach.
“Coach Henderson does a great job there,” coach Otzelberger said of SDSU’s season. “Won the league outright, won the tournament. To do that you got to have a good group, and I’ve watched them a fair amount through the season, just because obviously of my relationship with the coach.”
Heading into the Big 12 conference tournament as the No. 2 seed, Iowa State avenged a loss to Kansas State just five nights prior by knocking them off in the quarterfinals 65-58.
In the semifinals, the Cyclones picked up a 14-point victory over No. 14 ranked Baylor to advance to the Big 12 Championship.
Now, hot off a blowout 69-41 victory in the Big 12 title game over the previously No. 1 ranked Houston Cougars, the Cyclones come in as one of the hottest teams in the tournament.
The Cyclones pride themselves on their defense, and it shows in the stat sheet.
ISU enters the tournament giving up 61.3 points per game, ranked the fourth best in all Division 1 college basketball. But they don’t just get stops on missed shots, they play lockdown defense and force turnovers.
The Cyclones average 10.4 steals per contest this season, only behind Texas-El Paso for the most in the nation. Six ISU players this season average over a steal a game, while sophomore guard Tamin Lipsey averages nearly three steals on his own.
Iowa State’s scoring output is incredibly balanced, with seven players averaging six points per game or more.
Junior guard Keshon Gilbert leads the team in scoring averaging 13.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
Behind him, Lipsey pours in 12 points, five rebounds and five assists per contest, while freshman forward Milan Momcilovic averages 11 points per game as well.
South Dakota State
SDSU has won multiple conference titles, advanced to six NCAA tournaments prior to this season, but there’s still one thing missing on the resume.
A win in the NCAA tournament.
All six former appearances were met with early exits, losing to teams such as: Baylor, Michigan, Maryland, Gonzaga, Ohio State, and most recently Providence in 2022.
But every season is different, and you never know what can happen when March rolls around.
The Jacks have some experience playing in the March Madness tournament, with four of their five current starters having played in that 2022 loss to Providence. They know what it takes to play in March, it all comes down to execution.
The only starter that wasn’t part of the last trip to the big dance was this season’s Summit League Defensive Player of the Year and Conference Tournament MVP,
William Kyle III.
The six-foot-nine sophomore took things to another level in the conference tournament, throwing down multiple highlight-worthy dunks during the tournament.
Add in the Summit League player of the year in Zeke Mayo, averaging 19 points, six rebounds and four assists per game.
Guard play is going to be crucial against ISU, but when you have the veteran leadership of Matt Mims and Charlie Easley, and a rising star in redshirt freshman Kalen Garry, the opportunity for the biggest win in school history is right at your doorstep.