Who: No. 4 Iowa State (29-7, 13-5 Big 12) vs. No. 10 Illinois (28-8, 14-6 Big Ten)

Where: TD Garden (19,156) – Boston, Mass.

When: Thursday, March 28, 2024 – roughly 9:09 p.m. CT

Tipping Off: No. 2 seed Iowa State is set to face No. 3 seed Illinois in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal. This is the seventh time in program history the Cyclones have advanced to the Sweet 16, as the Cyclones are set to tie a program record with their 37th game of the year.

The Cyclones ran their winning streak to five over the weekend, picking up wins over No. 15 seed South Dakota State (82-65) and No. 7 seed Washington State (67-56) to advance to the seventh Sweet 16 in program history.

ISU took the lead for good at the start of the second half last time out against No. 25 Washington State, as it would go on to beat seventh-seeded Wazzu and advance to the Sweet 16 for the second time in the last three years under Coach Otzelberger.

With last Saturday's win, the 2023-24 Cyclones claimed the second-most wins in a single season in program history. The school record of 32 was set in 1999-00 when the team made its last Elite Eight appearance.

A top 10 battle in the East Region Semifinals, the Cyclones will face an Illinois program that cruised to a pair of wins in its first two tournament games. The Illini have won both tournament games by an average of 21 points.

Iowa State is 3-1 against Big Ten schools under Coach Otz, and the program has defeated Illinois in the previous two meetings between the two Midwest schools.

Storylines:

• With a victory on Thursday, No. 2 seed Iowa State would advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history. The game would be played on Saturday at a time to be determined in Boston.
• Iowa State cruised to the Big 12 Championship, winning all three games by an average of 20.3 points. Those wins included two over top 15 teams. Keshon Gilbert was named the Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player, while Tamin Lipsey and Milan Momcilovic were named to the All-Championship Team.
• ISU is 1-5 all-time in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
  • Overall, the Cyclones are 23-22 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• Coach Otzelberger is the eighth coach at ISU to lead the team to the NCAA Tournament and just the second to do so in each of his first three seasons (joining Tim Floyd).
  • Coach Otzelberger is the only coach in Iowa State history to take two teams to the Sweet 16.
• Keshon Gilbert has been Iowa State's best player in the back half of the season, as he's become the team's leading scorer, averaging 13.7 points per game.
  • Gilbert recorded a triple-double against New Hampshire earlier this season, going for 10 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
    • His triple-double – the eighth in school history – puts him with Lipsey, Haliburton, Monté Morris, Royce White, Jamaal Tinsley, Curtis Stinson and Marc Urquhart as members of the illustrious club.
  • Gilbert is first in the Big 12 in free throws attempted (197) and third in FT made (144).
    • He is second on the team in assists (153) and steals (69).
  • Gilbert has two Big 12 Newcomer of the Week awards to his name this season.
  • He's recorded a team-best eight 20-plus point outings.
• AP Honorable Mention All-American Tamin Lipsey is the heartbeat of the team, as the Ames native averages 12.5 points per game to go along with team-highs in assists (172) and steals (93).
  • Lipsey leads all Big 12 players in steals and steals per game.
    • He is fourth and fifth, respectively, in those categories nationally.
  • Lipsey set the school record for steals against PVAMU, picking the Panthers' pockets eight times.
    • The previous record, seven, was held by Fred Hoiberg and Justus Thigpen.
    • He has recorded a steal in all but two games in his career.
  • Against DePaul, Lipsey recorded the seventh triple-double in school history, going for 15 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.
    • Lipsey became the first Cyclone since Tyrese Haliburton in 2020 to record a triple-double.
• Cyclone freshman Milan Momcilovic has been a smooth scorer off the wing for ISU, averaging 11.2 points per contest.
  • He is one of five Cyclones to score at least 20 in a game this season.
  • Momcilovic is averaging the most points per game by an ISU true freshman since Lindell Wigginton's 16.7 in 2017-18.
    • He is the second highest-scoring true freshman in the Big 12, behind Baylor's Ja'Kobe Walter.
• Sixth man Curtis Jones has been stellar off the bench for the Cyclones, starting the year as a defensive stopper and eventually coming into his own on offense where he now averages 10.6 points per game.
  • Jones is the only ISU player since 2012 to record double-figure scoring outputs in 13-straight games off the bench which he did earlier this season.
    • He's been in double figures off the bench in 22-of-36 games for the Cyclones this season.
  • He had seven steals at TCU earlier this season in his lone start, tying him for the second-most steals in a single game in Iowa State history.
    • It's the first time ever that two Cyclones recorded games with seven-plus steals in a single season.
• Robert Jones leads the team in offensive rebounds (82) and blocks (34).
• Tre King leads the team in rebounds, as the senior out of Lexington, Ky., averages 5.3 per game and has a total of 190 boards.
• Hason Ward, C. Jones, Jackson Paveletzke, Demarion Watson and Omaha Biliew make up the bench unit for the Cyclones.
• Iowa State forces the second-most turnovers per game (17.33) in the country – tops in the Big 12.        
  • The Cyclones average 10.3 steals per game, also tops in the Big 12 and fourth in the country.
• As a head coach, Otz is 169-97 overall and has led the Cyclones to a 70-34 record over the last three seasons.

From the Notes:

• A trio of Cyclones earned honors from the Big 12. Lipsey was an All-Big 12 First Team selection, while Gilbert was named to the second team. Lipsey was a unanimous selection to the All-Defensive Team, while Gilbert was named to the All-Newcomer Team. Momcilovic was named to the All-Freshman Team.
  • Lipsey was named an AP Honorable Mention All-American and also earned a spot on the NABC All-District 8 Team.
  • Lipsey also recently earned CSC Academic All-District Honors.
• Iowa State has won 18-straight games at Hilton Coliseum, the fifth longest active home winning streak in the country.
  • ISU, McNeese and Samford are the only undefeated teams in the country at home with at least 18 wins.
• Iowa State has won six Big 12 Tournaments now in the last 11 seasons.
• Iowa State ranks second in the nation in turnover percentage at 25.2 percent. ISU has been in the top six in the country in each of Otzelberger's seasons, ranking sixth in 2022 (24.6%) and second in 2023 (25%).
• Iowa State is one of four schools in the country, and the only Power Six school, to force 25 or more turnovers in multiple games against NCAA Division I opponents this season.
• Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert each have triple-doubles to their names this season - making ISU the only team in the country with multiple players boasting a triple-double.
  • There are now eight in school history.
• Only five players in the country are averaging at least 12.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game this season. Two of them reside in the Cyclone backcourt in Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert, with ISU being the only school in the nation with multiple players hitting those marks.
• Lipsey had a school-record steal streak of 34-straight games snapped this season. It was the second longest streak in the country. He has a steal in 65 of the 68 games he has played.
• The Cyclones are 31-1 under T.J. Otzelberger when four or more players score in double figures.
• The six highest-scoring Cyclone outputs under Otzelberger have all come this season, including a pair of 100-point performances. Nine of the 10 highest under Otz have also come this season.
• Otzelberger was named a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year. There are four semifinalists for the award. Last year Otzelberger made it on to the late season watch list of 15.
• The Cyclones have scored 90 or more points six times this season. It is the most times hitting that mark in a season since the 2016-17 team did so eight times.
• As of Wednesday, the Cyclones are ranked No. 6 in the NET. The Cyclones slot in at No. 7 in the KenPom rankings and are No. 6 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index.

Switching Sides:

• Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr. has done it all for the Illini, as he leads the team in scoring with 23.3 a contest and he has scored in double figures in all 30 contests he's played in this season and his last 40 games total as an Illini.
  • Shannon is on the watch list for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, was named an AP third-team All-American and a first-team All-Big Ten selection.
• Southern Illinois transfer Marcus Domask recorded a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists in the team's first round victory over Morehead State. It was just the 10th triple-double in NCAA Tournament history.
  • It was the sixth in program history.
• The third head of the Illini attack is Coleman Hawkins. He is the only player in Illinois' program history too record career totals of 900+ points, 500+ rebounds, 200+ assists, 100+ blocks, and 100+ steals.
• Like Iowa State, Illinois has found success in its conference tournament, as the Illini have taken two of the last four Big Ten Tournament titles.
• Illinois slots in at No. 10 in KenPom, No. 11 in ESPN's BPI and No. 13 in the NET.
• Illinois is 1-8 against top-two seeds in the NCAA Tournament with the lone win coming back in 1989.
• Over the last five years, Illinois has the highest winning percentage (.690) of any Big Ten team in conference play.
  • The Illini are one of just five teams to post five-straight 20-or-more win seasons over the last five years.
• Illinois head coach Brad Underwood is in his seventh season at the helm of the Fighting Illini basketball program. The Illini are 142-87 during his tenure and he has helped lead them to the school's first Sweet 16 since 2005.
  • Underwood is 194-112 in his 11-year career, as he had previous head coaching tenures at both SFA and Oklahoma State.
  • As a head coach, Underwood is 0-4 against Iowa State, dropping three contests to the Cyclones in his lone year at Oklahoma State before dropping a fourth against ISU at Illinois in Maui.