It’s the last dance at Hilton Coliseum for Cyclone lifer Tamin Lipsey and other Iowa State basketball seniors.
The Cyclones will wrap up the regular season with one final home game on March 7 against visiting Arizona State. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on FS1.
Iowa State (24-6, 11-6 Big 12 Conference) is looking to shake off a two-game losing skid after suffering back-to-back losses to Texas Tech and Arizona.
Meanwhile, Arizona State (16-14, 7-10) is coming to Ames fresh off of consecutive wins over Utah and Kansas. The Sun Devils upset the Jayhawks 70-60 on March 3.
Here are three things to watch for in Saturday’s game:
Arizona State enters Hilton Coliseum with momentum
The Sun Devils are coming off of back-to-back wins, including an upset of Kansas in their last outing at home on March 3.
The Sun Devils built a 40-20 halftime lead and hung on for the win.
Arizona State also had a 72-67 win over Texas Tech on Feb. 17. It was the game in which J.T. Toppin went down with a season-ending ACL injury in the final six minutes of the contest.
Pepperdine transfer Moe Odum is shining in his first season at the power-conference level. He had 23 points in both games against Kansas and Texas Tech. In the recent win over Kansas, he had a game-high 23 points and shot 5-of-10 from long range, with four boards, six assists and two steals.
The senior guard is averaging 17.3 points, 5.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game for the Sun Devils.
The frontcourt is anchored by 7-foot-1 center Massamba Diop. Diop is one of the top shot-blockers and rim-protectors in the conference, averaging 2.2 blocks per game, second to Kansas’ Flory Bidunga. The freshman center has had three or more blocks in nine Big 12 games this season.
Senior guard Anthony Johnson has developed into a reliable sixth man for the Sun Devils. It’s his first season of Division I basketball after playing the last few years at NAIA-level University of the Cumberlands. Johnson is a two-way contributor off the bench. He is averaging 13.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. Primarily a slashing threat, Johnson has shown he can knock down 3s when left open.
Iowa State basketball guard Tamin Lipsey on increased urgency
Iowa State basketball guard Tamin Lipsey on team-wide increased urgency.
Arizona State’s towering size
The Sun Devils have plenty of length and size throughout their roster.
According to KenPom, Arizona State has the ninth-tallest roster in Division I basketball in terms of average height across the team.
The Sun Devils’ starting five features three players who are 6-foot-11 or taller.
Aside from the 7-foot-1 Diop, they have a pair of 6-foot-11 forwards in the lineup, sophomore Santiago Trouet and junior Andrija Grbovic.
Although the Sun Devils’ big men might not be as talented as Arizona’s, it will be interesting to see if Arizona State tries to emulate or utilize a similar gameplan defensively as Arizona. The Sun Devils are a good shot-blocking team and they’ll look to use their size up front to make life in the paint difficult for Iowa State.
Despite Arizona State’s size, the Sun Devils are not an exceptional rebounding team, so this can be an opportunity for Iowa State bigs to set the tone on the boards.
Iowa State basketball coach TJ Otzelberger on emotions of senior night
Iowa State basketball coach TJ Otzelberger on the emotions of senior night from a coach’s perspective.
Iowa State will salute its seniors
The Cyclones are set to honor five seniors on Saturday afternoon: Tamin Lipsey, Joshua Jefferson, Nate Heise, Eric Mulder and Dominick Nelson.
Lipsey, a hometown hero and Ames product, will be playing in his final game at Hilton Coliseum. A senior who has been at Iowa State since the first day of his collegiate career, Lipsey is a rarity in this era of the revamped transfer portal and NIL. He is one of only five seniors in the Big 12 to stay all four, or five (if they redshirted), years at the same school.
Jefferson also will get recognition. In just two years at Iowa State, he quickly blossomed into one of the Cyclones’ top players and fan-favorites after transferring in from Saint Mary’s.
Nate Heise, a sixth-year senior, was already honored in last season’s senior-night ceremonies, but he will be recognized once again on Saturday. Heise chose to return this season for another year due to a season of eligibility stemming from a medical redshirt from a hand injury in the 2022-23 season at Northern Iowa.
Nelson and Mulder, both graduate transfers, will cap senior-day ceremonies.
Iowa State basketball vs. Arizona State prediction
The quest for perfection at home is no longer possible, but expect Iowa State to be able to give Tamin Lipsey and the other seniors the perfect sendoff in the final game at Hilton Coliseum. Although the Sun Devils recently enjoyed a big win, they’ve struggled on the road this year, with a 2-8 record. One last dose of Hilton Magic as Iowa State gets back on the winning side after a two-game losing skid. Prediction: Iowa State 80, Arizona State 64
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
