INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – For the 22^nd time in school history, the Iowa State men’s basketball team has earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones have reached nine NCAA Tournaments since 20212, one of 10 teams in the field this year to do so.

Iowa State (19-13, 9-9 Big 12) earned a No. 6 seed in the Midwest Region and will face the winner of a First Four game on Friday, March 17, in Greensboro, N.C. No. 11 seeds Mississippi State (21-12, 8-10 SEC) and Pittsburgh (22-11, 14-6 ACC) will face each other Wednesday, March 15, in a First Four game in Dayton, Ohio. Game time and TV information will be announced by the NCAA later tonight.

In his second season as head coach of the team, T.J. Otzelberger is the third coach in school history to take a team to the NCAA Tournament in his first two years at the helm. Otzelberger will be making his fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, as he also led South Dakota State to the 2017 and 2018 tournaments.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa received an at-large berth to the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, its 29th appearance in the tournament, including its seventh under head coach Fran McCaffery.

Iowa (19-13) received a No. 8 seed (seeded No. 32 overall) and will play ninth-seeded Auburn (20-12) on Thursday in Birmingham, Alabama, in the Midwest Region. Game time and television information will be released tonight. Thursday will be the first meeting all-time between the Hawkeyes and Tigers.

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl served as an assistant coach at Iowa from 1986-92 and Iowa assistant coach Matt Gatens served on Pearl’s staff at Auburn from 2017-19. 

The other two teams in Iowa’s first-weekend bracket are top-seeded Houston (31-3) and No. 16 seed Northern Kentucky (22-12).

Information on pre-tournament news conferences and open practice times will be released on Monday.

The Iowa State women won the Big 12 Tournament for the first time since 2001. The Cyclones outscored 15th ranked Texas 21-12 in the third quarter to beat the Longhorns 61-51 in Kansas City.

That’s ISU coach Bill Fennelly. The Cyclones held Texas to 24 second half points and pulled away for the win.

Ashley Joens scored 28 points and had 10 rebounds in being named the tournament most outstanding player.

The Drake Bulldogs defeated the Belmont Bruins 89-71 on Sunday to win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs won the tournament title for the first time since 2018.

Maggie Bair had 19 points, 15 rebounds, 6 blocks, and 9 assists to lead the Bulldogs. Anna Miller added 15 points and Grace Berg dropped in 14.

Drake made 18 of 19 free throws led by Katie Dinnebier’s 13 of 14 effort. The Bulldogs are headed back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. Drake improved to 22-9.

Belmont saw their 16-game win streak snapped and fell to 23-11 on the season.

Drake drew a 12-seed for the NCAA Tournament and will face 5th-seeded Louisville in their opening game. Drake will play in Austin, TX at the University of Texas’ Moody Center.

The Iowa State women’s basketball team out-dueled Oklahoma to reach the Big 12 Tournament Championship on Saturday. The Cyclones outscored the Sooners 24-14 in the third quarter to take command of the game.

Ashley Joens led the way with 22 points and 8 rebounds. Lexi Donarski dropped in 20 points and Nyamer Diew splashed in 19.

The Cyclones improved to 21-9 and moved on to face Texas in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game on Sunday.

The UNI offense sputtered in the fourth quarter and the Panthers fell to Belmont 69-62 in the semifinals of the MVC Hoops in the Heartland Tournament on Saturday.

Belmont guard Destinee Wells scored 9 of her game-high 28 points in the final four miinutes to help the Bruins snag the win.

Maya McDermott led UNI with 15 points and Emerson Green added 15. The Panthers made seven threes in the opening quarter but hit just 4 of 17 the rest of the way.

UNI dropped to 18-9 on the season and will hope to end up in the WNIT.

Belmont improved to 19-10 and will take on Drake in the MVC title game.

The Drake women’s basketball team took down Illinois State 74-54 in the semifinals of the MVC Hoops in the Heartland Tournament on Saturday. The Bulldogs raced out to a 22-9 lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back.

Maggie Bair led the way with a big double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Grace Berg added 16 points and Courtney Becker had 13.

The Bulldogs improved to 21-9 and will play in the title game for the fifth time in the last six seasons. The Bulldogs will face Belmont for the title.

Class 1A Championship

Grand View Christian 63, North Linn 46

Grand View Christian led by just 2 points at halftime but outscored North Linn 31-16 in the second half to grab the Class 1A State Title 63-46 on Friday afternoon in Des Moines. Josh Sanderson and Noah John each had 18 points to lead the Thunder. Western Kentucky recruit Daniel Tobiloba finished with 8 points and 15 rebounds for Grand View. The Thunder complete a perfect season at 27-0. North Linn got 14 points and 10 rebounds from Tate Haughenbury and they suffer their first loss of the year to finish 26-1.

Class 2A Championship

Central Lyon 72, Western Christian, Hull 59

Central Lyon pulled away in the second half to beat Western Christian 72-59 and win the Class 2A State Championship. It was a tie game at halftime before the Lions jumped ahead with a six point edge in the third. Zach Lutmer led the charge with 25 points and 6 assists. Reece Vander Zee added 21 points and 5 rebounds. Central Lyon completes the title run at 24-1 on the season. Western Christian was led by 19 points from Tate VanRegenmorter and they end the season at 22-4.

Class 3A Championship

Bondurant-Farrar 58, Xavier, Cedar Rapids 55

The Bondurant-Farrar Bluejays completed a perfect 26-0 season with a Class 3A Championship win over Cedar Rapids Xavier 58-55 on Friday evening. The Bluejays were led by 19 points from Colby Collison and Reed Pfaltzgraff added 15 points, 4 steals, and a block. The Bluejays trailed by 5 heading into the fourth quarter but outscored the Musketeers 21-13 in the final period. Xavier had four players score in double-figures, led by 17 from Aiden Yamilkoski.

Class 4A Championship

Valley, W.D.M. 75, Waukee Northwest 67

A 27-18 advantage for West Des Moines Valley in the 2nd quarter was all it took for the Tigers to win the Class 4A State Championship over Waukee Northwest on Friday night. The two teams played an even second half and Valley grabbed the title with a 75-67 victory. Zay Robinson had a big game for Valley with 28 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Curtis Stinson added 19 points and 4 boards. The Tigers shot a terrific 62% from the field and cap the title run with a 21-5 record. Waukee Northwest was led by 27 points and 4 rebounds from Grant Tigges and 19 points and 9 board from Pryce Sandfort.

UNI had four players score double-figures and the Panthers beat Illinois-Chicago 73-57 in the quarterfinals of the MVC Hoops in the Heartland Tournament on Friday night.

The Panthers had an 8-point lead heading into the fourth quarter and saw that advantage dwindle to three before finishing with a 19-6 run to win the game.

UNI shot 51% from the field and were a sizzling 18 of 20 at the free throw line. Grace Boffeli had 23 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Panthers. Emerson Green added 11 points, five rebounds, and 2 steals.

UNI improved to 22-8 on the season. The Panthers will now take on Belmont in the semifinals on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Illinois-Chicago was led by 13 points and 5 rebounds from Josie Filer. The Flames fell to 18-15 on the season.

The Drake women’s basketball team picked up a 73-70 win over Missouri State in the quarterfinals of the MVC Tournament on Friday afternoon. The Bulldogs fought back after trailing most of the game to advance.

A pair of threes from Katie Dinnebier and Sarah Beth Gueldner tied the game up at 63 and the Bulldogs took the lead with under a minute to play on a Maggie Bair acrobatic layup. Drake then got a big block from Anna Miller and were clutch down the stretch at the foul line to seal the win.

Maggie Bair and Grace Berg each dropped in 20 points and Bair also had 10 rebounds to notch her 11th double-double of the season. Katie Dinnebier had 19 points and 4 assists and went a perfect 6 of 6 at the free throw line.

The Bulldogs improved to 20-9 on the season and will now take on Illinois State in the semifinals of the Hoops in the Heartland Tournament at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday in Moline, Ill.

Missouri State dropped to 20-11 on the season.