Tamin Lipsey’s Grit Powers No. 7 Iowa State Past Baylor in Gritty Win at Hilton Coliseum
If you’ve watched Iowa State basketball this season, you know this much: Tamin Lipsey doesn’t just play the game - he lives in it. On Saturday, the senior guard from Ames quite literally left pieces of himself all over the Hilton Coliseum floor. Knees bloodied, hips bruised, diving for loose balls like every possession was the last - Lipsey embodied everything about this Cyclone team’s identity in a 72-69 win over Baylor.
And while the box score will show his 14 points and nine rebounds - his highest total since a triple-double performance back in December 2023 - it barely scratches the surface of his impact. This wasn’t about stats.
It was about hustle. It was about heart.
It was about a player who refused to let his team lose.
“I’ve probably got a record of some sort,” Lipsey said with a grin after the game. “It’s just putting my all out there to win the game.”
That mindset was contagious. The No.
7 Cyclones improved to 21-2 overall and 8-2 in the Big 12, notching their fifth straight win and continuing the best start in program history. But it didn’t come easy.
Baylor, despite sitting at 13-10 (3-8 Big 12), nearly erased a 15-point second-half deficit with a furious 14-2 run in the final three minutes. Iowa State had to dig in - and dig deep - to hold on.
“You’d love to finish the game better than what we did,” said head coach T.J. Otzelberger. “But ultimately, we came in here with a very specific plan, and that was, in that second half, to pick up our defensive intensity and win the rebounding battle - and we did those things.”
That plan worked. Even when the offense sputtered, the Cyclones turned to their defense - a calling card all season long.
They held Baylor scoreless for a five-minute stretch midway through the second half, turning a slim one-point lead into a more comfortable eight-point cushion. Milan Momcilovic’s final three-pointer of the night capped that run and gave ISU just enough breathing room to survive the Bears’ final push.
Momcilovic led the way with 21 points despite a cold night from deep (2-for-6 from three). Joshua Jefferson added 15, and Lipsey’s 14 came with a side of grit - four offensive rebounds, multiple floor burns, and a relentless motor that never quit.
“He’s one of the greatest Cyclones of all time,” Momcilovic said of Lipsey. “It’s been a pleasure to play with him. He’s found me on so many shots and gotten me so many looks - it’s all a credit to him and the little things he does.”
Those little things showed up in big ways. Lipsey’s back-to-back layups capped a 13-2 run that gave Iowa State a 63-51 lead with just over seven minutes to play. And while Baylor made it interesting late, the Cyclones had already done the heavy lifting.
ISU outscored Baylor 38-24 in the paint and outrebounded them 37-25 - a major feat against a team known for length and athleticism. The Cyclones didn’t shoot it well from deep (6-for-21), but they made up for it with physicality, effort, and a defense that wore Baylor down possession by possession.
“Their defensive intensity and pressure wear you down,” said Baylor head coach Scott Drew. “It’s kind of like a great ground game in football.
They just wear you out - body blow after body blow. That’s what they do.”
And no one throws more of those body blows than Lipsey.
“There was like two of him out there on some possessions,” Otzelberger said. “There’s a physicality to how he does everything, and laying it on the line - he’s done that for four years.”
He does it for his team. He does it for his hometown. And on Saturday, he did it to help Iowa State complete its first regular-season sweep of Baylor since the 2022-23 season.
Tamin Lipsey may not always light up the scoreboard, but when the Cyclones need a spark, a stop, or a statement play, he’s the one throwing himself into the fight. Quite literally.
And Iowa State keeps winning because of it.