How Iowa State is preparing for Kentucky with or without star Joshua Jefferson
Iowa State steamrolled Tennessee State to advance to the Round of 32, scoring 108 in a 34-point win with the Cyclones finishing with shooting splits of 53/46/78 and four players in double figures — including two going for 20-plus. All of it was clouded, though, by All-American forward Joshua Jefferson going down with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury just three minutes into the game, unable to put any weight on his foot and immediately going back to the training room for an x-ray.
Head coach T.J. Otzelberger said afterward that was a sprain and the x-ray was negative, but his status for Sunday against Kentucky remained up in the air.
KSR caught up with the do-it-all threat shortly after the game went final, who said his availability will be decided over the next 48 hours.
“Just to be day-to-day right now, go back and do some rehab at the hotel,” Jefferson said of his status.
He scored just two points and pulled down one rebound before turning his ankle on an awkward fall at the rim coming down from a layup attempt. The senior said he knew right away that the injury was serious enough to keep him out the rest of the game and his only focus that point forward was on a potential turnaround for Sunday against the Wildcats.
It was up to his teammates to take care of business the rest of the way to at least give him a chance at that.
“Yeah, right when it happened, I was pissed because I knew it was going to be game-ending from what I could feel,” he told KSR. “Just happy with how my team came out and played today. Moved the ball, shared the ball really well, and then competed on the defensive side of the ball. So just proud of everybody in this room right now.”
He didn’t need to give any type of rah-rah speech at halftime or lead team huddles in a boot — they did what they had to do with little to no drop-off without one of the best players in college basketball.
Why? They wanted to do it for him, and that will be the plan on Sunday if he’s unable to give it a go against Kentucky.
“‘Kind of just do it for him. We don’t know what his status is, but play hard. Do what Joshua would do, be physical on the boards, set good screens, and then you know just blow him out,’” Milan Momcilovic said of T.J. Otzelberger’s message to the Cyclones after Jefferson went down. “… I mean, it just kind of sucks. We were healthy all year long. We really never had one injury and then obviously first game of the tournament that happens. So, obviously we’ll go out, we’ll play for him and hopefully we’ll try to win.
“Who knows, he could play Sunday. Or hopefully we win and give him another extra week of rest. We just got to dial in on Sunday.”
“I thought he was gonna pop right back up. … I feel like that’s what it always is when your leaders goes down,” guard Tamin Lipsey added. “He’s gonna do his best to be vocal and help us in any way that he can, but if he’s not able to go then just rallying around him and getting the win for him and having guys step up and make plays.”
“Everybody had this feeling of taking responsibility on the game. Everybody stepped up,” freshman Killyan Toure, who went for a team-high 25 points in the win, said. “Everybody was on a mission. We know here, just to win one game and we do the same thing through the tournament.”
To do that, though, they’ll have to take on a Kentucky team riding the high of an all-time buzzer-beater from Otega Oweh in the Wildcats’ overtime win over Santa Clara immediately before Iowa State’s victory.
They were watching not only to scout, but also because they were anxious to get their own NCAA Tournament journey started — and couldn’t take the floor until UK was off.
“Man, crazy game. We were ready to go out and play and then we saw I went to overtime with those two crazy shots,” Momcilovic said.
“We were watching in here. Most of our guys didn’t want overtime,” Lipsey added. “We didn’t really care who won, but we didn’t want to sit in here for an extra five minutes or ten minutes, whatever it was. But, obviously, it’s March — those type of shots go in. It was an awesome shot.”
What are their early thoughts on the Wildcats and their chances to potentially win one for Jefferson if he can’t give it a go on Sunday?
“They’re a really good team. Mark Pope coached at BYU and I think my freshman year he beat us both times maybe, or once. But we’ve played against him and obviously they got some really good pieces,” Momcilovic told KSR. “Otega Oweh, we played against him at Oklahoma too our first year. So some of those guys are familiar, but some of them we’ve got to learn a little bit more about.”
“Great team. I know, obviously, Oweh. I think I played against him when I was a freshman or sophomore. He’s a good player, one of their leaders, can score the ball really well,” Lipsey said. “Obviously got some other shooters as well, but they play in the SEC — which is a tough conference. I’m sure they’ll be ready to go.”
“I will be excited for Sunday — like every game, you know? We will be ready for this matchup,” Toure added. “They’re a good team. I have to watch some film — obviously, I watched some games even during the season. They play physical. So yeah, we’ll be ready for that.”
Jefferson, not ruling himself out quite yet, says he’s excited to leave the door open for his own shot at the Cats — or support his guys as they push to pull off the win.
“I’m excited for it,” he told KSR. “You know, they’re a really good team and have a lot of good, talented players. It should be a good game.”
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