The Iowa State basketball team started their Big 12 Tournament run on Wednesday with a convincing win against Cincinnati. The Cyclones cruised to a 76-56 victory over the Bearcats to advance to the next round of the tournament, but injuries continue to be an issue for this team. Keshon Gilbert has been dealing with a muscle strain injury as of late, and he did not play in the second half of this game. Tamin Lipsey went down with an injury in the second half as well.
Keshon Gilbert did not play in Iowa State's final regular season game against Kansas State, but he was able to give it a go against Cincinnati. It's unclear at the moment if Gilbert will be able to play tomorrow.
“As far as Keshon goes, it'll be evaluated tonight and we'll see how it goes,” Iowa State basketball head coach TJ Otzelberger said after the game, according to a post from Tyler Easterday.
TJ Otzelberger provided an update on Tamin Lipsey as well, and it sounds like a groin injury. Otzelberger is expecting him to play tomorrow.
“With Tamin, sounds like something with his groin — he tweaked it, but I think, I think for sure he'll be fine and he'll be good to go tomorrow,” Otzelberger said, according to a post from Eugene Rapay.
Article Continues BelowThat's good news for Iowa State as they don't need any more injuries to deal with right now. The Cyclones have dealt with a lot of injury trouble down the stretch, and if they are going to have success in the postseason, they need to stay healthy.
Iowa State looked good on Wednesday despite the injury trouble. The Cyclones started the game on a 12-2 run, and they never let Cincinnati get back in it. The Bearcats stayed within striking distance for most of the game, but Iowa State pulled away down the stretch to earn the 20-point victory.
With the win, the Iowa State basketball team has advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 Tournament. Four-seed BYU earned a double bye in the tournament as they are a top four seed, and they will take on the Cyclones tomorrow in what should be a terrific matchup.
Iowa State and BYU will tip off the quarterfinals on Thursday at 11:30 CT from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. The game will be airing on ESPN2/ESPN+, and it should end up being a tight one.