Tamin Lipsey Makes Iowa State Basketball History in NCAA Tournament

He recorded five steals in the game, pushing his career total to 17 in NCAA tournament games. By the time the game ended, he added one more, putting him at 18 for his career.

As shared by the team’s official account on X, that is the most NCAA tournament steals any player has recorded individually.

Along with the pressure defense, taking full advantage of a Kentucky team that doesn’t have a traditional point guard and forcing them into 20 total turnovers, Lipsey could not be stopped offensively.

Knowing his team needed a scoring punch with Jefferson sidelined, he upped the aggression on that end of the court. He took a team-high 15 shots and made eight of them, en route to scoring a career-high 26 points.

His jump shot, which has been inconsistent at times during his senior campaign, was locked in. Lipsey connected on 3-of-6 3-point attempts and made 7-of-8 attempts from the foul line.

Along with the stellar shooting performance, he also handed out 10 assists. It was the fourth double-double of his career, and it could not have come at a better time. His stat line was rounded out with three rebounds while playing a team-high 37 minutes.

Iowa State needed a memorable performance from its senior point guard, and he delivered. Kentucky got off to a fast start, but the confidence of Lipsey and his teammates never wavered, leading to a convincing 82-63 victory.

The Cyclones have advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third time in five years under T.J. Otzelberger. Lipsey will be looking to increase his number of steals when the team faces the Tennessee Volunteers in Chicago.