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Iowa State Cyclones

What’s Wrong With Iowa State Basketball and How To Fix It

The Iowa State Cyclones struggled in their game against the Memphis Tigers and there are issues to fix.
Lucca Mazzie|
Mar 11, 2026; Kansas City, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones coach TJ Otzelberger watches game play during the first half against the Arizona State Sun Devils at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images
Mar 11, 2026; Kansas City, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones coach TJ Otzelberger watches game play during the first half against the Arizona State Sun Devils at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Iowa State CyclonesMemphis Tigers

It was months and months of waiting before the Iowa State Cyclones finally got back in action for the first game of their college basketball season. And it went terribly.

Iowa State lost to the Memphis Tigers in Sioux Falls, SD, to open the season. It was an awful loss, as the Cyclones came in as a heavy favorite. In addition, Memphis was without their best player, Nemanja Popovic.

But the Tigers did look really good. Jayden Reid put up 26 points, hitting 12 free throws in the process. Luke Almodovar had 18 points, including three 3-pointers. Rihards Vavers finished with 15 himself, going 3-for-7 from deep.

Iowa State looked terrible, and many are wondering: Where do the Cyclones go from here? And the answer is pretty complicated.

Iowa State has plenty to clean up after season-opening loss

The main issue is the defense. For years, T.J. Otzelberger has worked toward building Iowa State’s defense into one of the best in the nation. But it’s completely gone this year.

The perimeter defense looks much worse than expected, and they have given up an abundance of 3-pointers. In addition, the interior defense has also been underwhelming.

Big man Blake Buchanan, who was expected to be a fantastic defender in the paint, has really struggled thus far. The team needs to play more as a unit and tighten up space to get steals. They also need to be quicker on closeouts.

In addition, the Cyclones simply don’t have the scorers to compete. Guards Jamarion Batemon and Tamin Lipsey were expected to be top scorers this year, but Batemon put up zero points in his first game, and Lipsey just simply hasn’t improved enough each season to expect a massive scoring jump from him.

It feels like Ryan Prather Jr. is the only elite scorer, but it feels like his great shooting numbers won’t last forever. Someone has to step up scoring the ball, both on the interior and exterior, or it could be a forgettable offense to watch.

The third and final issue is that the team simply doesn’t work well enough together. With five transfers and three freshmen, there are lots of new guys who need to get used to everything. Many expected everyone to fit well simply because they are all great defensively, but the offense just hasn’t flowed well at all. Everyone has different skill sets, and it doesn’t translate from player to player. That needs to be a big fix soon.

Iowa State has potential this season, but nothing can work out unless they fix their big issues and work on building together as a team.

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Lucca Mazzie
LUCCA MAZZIE

Lucca Mazzie is a sports journalist from Menlo Park, CA, and is a part of the Iowa State Class of 2030. He has been in the sports world since his freshman year in high school, where he has worked with a number of websites such as On3/Rivals and On SI, as well as creating a few of his own websites and podcasts. He has covered schools such as Stanford, Michigan State, Saint Mary's, and Fresno State in the past, and looks to continue his work at Iowa State.

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