March Madness: Power ranking the Sweet 16 teams left in 2024 NCAA Tournament

13. Iowa State Cyclones

Just two Big 12 teams remain in the NCAA Tournament, Houston and Iowa State. The Cyclones' path to the Sweet 16 started with South Dakota State, 15-seed with a star guard in Zeke Mayo who put up 19 points and kept them in the game at first. 

But Iowa State was able to push the game into blowout range, pulling out the 82-65 victory over the Jackrabbits. Freshman forward Milan Momcilovic led the team with 19 points, while Tamin Lipsey had 17 points and five assists. Both Hason Ward and Curtis Jones were in double figures off the bench.

The next game was against Washington State, who got an early 7-0 lead on the favorites. The Cyclones ultimately got back the lead after it was tied at halftime, before getting the 67-56 victory. Lipsey finished with 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists, while Jones had 14 points and four assists off the bench.

The defense for Iowa State has been great all season, even away from Hilton Coliseum. That’s going to get tested in a big way this week, taking on 3-seed Illinois and its explosive offense. They scored 85+ points in the first two games, making it the ultimate offense vs defense battle.