Iowa State Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey (3) walks off the court after a 2026 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament regional semifinal game against Tennessee in Chicago on Friday, March 27, 2026.
Nick Rohlman/The Gazette
CHICAGO — Joshua Jefferson paused midsentence and sobbed.
The eruption of emotion embodied two seasons of soaring highs and gutting lows for Iowa State’s senior All-American forward, but it’s the fact that his severely injured left ankle prevented him from playing in Friday’s 76-62 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 loss to sixth-seeded Tennessee that caused physical pain to merge with mental anguish.
Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson (5) speaks with the media after a 2026 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament regional semifinal game against Tennessee in Chicago on Friday, March 27, 2026.
Nick Rohlman/The Gazette
“Not being able to go out there and fight with them — it’s hard,” said the 6-9, 240-pound Jefferson, who watched his beloved teammates get outrebounded, 42-22, in their third Sweet 16 appearance in five seasons under head coach T.J. Otzelberger. “It’s something I’ve just gotta live with, always the what-if, for the rest of my life knowing how far we could have went. I really think we could have won it all if I was out there.”
Tennessee guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie (0) lays the ball up during a 2026 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament regional semifinal game against Iowa State in Chicago on Friday, March 27, 2026.
Nick Rohlman/The Gazette
It’s that what-if that will gnaw at not only Jefferson’s psyche, but that of a fan base that made up a vast portion of a crowd of 21,508. Cyclone fans bitterly remember former star Georges Niang breaking his foot in a first round tournament win in 2014 — and the team responding with a win over tradition-rich North Carolina before falling to eventual national champion UConn in Madison Square Garden.
This version of the Cyclones beat another blue blood in Kentucky in the second round in before being overwhelmed by the Volunteers’ length and girth in the “House that Jordan Built.” Tennessee held a 36-to-13 edge in rebounding at the under-eight timeout and totaled seven blocked shots to ISU’s zero.
“At every position they probably had 20 pounds and five inches (on us),” said senior guard Nate Heise, who scored 18 points in his final game as a Cyclone. “It was just an unfortunate matchup without Joshua because he means so much to our team. Obviously, I think the result would have been different with him, but that’s nothing we can control. They’ve just got big, athletic guys and it was definitely a struggle in there.”
Iowa State Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey (3) shoots the ball during a 2026 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament regional semifinal game against Tennessee in Chicago on Friday, March 27, 2026.
Nick Rohlman/The Gazette
Record-setting senior point guard Tamin Lipsey also scored 18 points in his final game in cardinal and gold while also grabbing five rebounds and reeling off five assists. His layup with 14:46 left pulled the Cyclones within six, at 47-41, but the Volunteers responded with a 7-0 run and never let their lead dip below eight points after that.
“We missed (Jefferson) a ton,” Lipsey said. “His size would have helped a lot on the boards. They almost double our rebounds. We were out there competing, but when they’re 6-10, 6-11, seven-foot from three to five, and guys they brought in off the bench were crashing just as hard — it was a tough matchup for us.”
ISU did force 17 turnovers, but only scored 14 points off them. The Cyclones also got the free-throw line 25 times, but missed 10 of those. Couple all that with Tennessee’s ability to be physical with sharpshooting junior forward Milan Momcilovic off ball screens — he scored just six points on nine field-goal attempts — and ISU simply wore down in the second half.
Iowa State Cyclones forward Milan Momcilovic (22) shoots the ball duringa 2026 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament regional semifinal game against Tennessee in Chicago on Friday, March 27, 2026.
Nick Rohlman/The Gazette
“I saw that all year, so I’ve just gotta be better,” Momcilovic said. “I missed a couple shots early. I didn’t really get the cleanest of looks, but I’ve still gotta be aggressive, so that’s on me. A lot of guys played well today and I didn’t, so it just feels in the pit of my stomach that I kind of let the team down.”
He didn’t. Nor did Jefferson by any stretch of the imagination — even though he seemed to blame himself for a freak injury sustained early in the first round rout of Tennessee State. When he cried, freshman guard Jamarion Batemon tapped his hand on his shoulder in an effort to sooth the pain. And when Jefferson spoke again, that what-if anguish was replaced with what all of it was — a deeply connected team capable of making a run at a national title.
“It was the best decision of my life, coming to Iowa State,” he said, echoing words he spoke on senior day two weeks ago. “I truly mean it when I say we have the best fans, so much support. So grateful for them. Hopefully, I made everybody proud.”
He did. Now it’s time to pass the torch to the younger guys as they seek to make deep runs in March.
“We’ll be back,” Otzelberger said. “We’ll find solutions and we’ll have our breakthrough.”