Three Cyclones Recognized by Big 12 Coaches
March 10th, 2024 by admin
IRVING, Texas – Three Iowa State Cyclones were named to various All-Big 12 Men’s Basketball Teams Sunday by the league coaches.
Sophomore Tamin Lipsey earned All-Big 12 First Team honors and was also named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team, one of two unanimous selections on the defensive team. Junior Keshon Gilbert was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team and picked up a spot on the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team. Milan Momcilovic was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
Lipsey is the second Cyclone under T.J. Otzelberger to be named to the first team, joining Izaiah Brockington in 2022. He is also the fifth Cyclone in school history, and second in the last two years, to be named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. Lipsey averaged 12.5 points, 4.8 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game this season. Lipsey is the only player in the country to average those numbers and just the 17th to do so since 1997. Lipsey leads the Big 12 in steals and ranks fourth in the nation. The Cyclone defense held opposing teams below its scoring average in 17 of 18 Big 12 games.
Gilbert led the Cyclones with 13.5 points per game, while also dishing out the second-most assists on the team with 4.2 per game. A starter in all 31 games, the Cyclones went 17-5 when Gilbert reached double figures, including a 6-1 mark when he hit 20 points. Gilbert was twice named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week and turned in the eighth triple-double in Iowa State history with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against New Hampshire.
Momcilovic was one of four Cyclones to average double-digit points on the season at 10.9. He also averaged 3.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.4 blocks per game. He was one of eight true freshmen across the country to average those numbers, with just three of them coming at Power Six schools. Momcilovic connected on 49 3-pointers, tied for the third-most in school history. His 80.6 percent free throw shooting is the third-best among freshman in school history.
The Cyclones return to action Thursday night, as second-seeded Iowa State faces either seventh-seeded Texas or 10th-seeded Kansas State in the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Quarterfinals at the T Mobile Center in Kansas City. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN2.