Bond between Keshon Gilbert and Tamin Lipsey shows on the court for Iowa State

OMAHA, Neb. — When Keshon Gilbert arrived on the Iowa State campus early last summer, he needed a friend.

He found one immediately in Tamin Lipsey — Ames native and Cyclone teammate.

“I came here pretty early,” said Gilbert, a UNLV transfer who has teamed with Lipsey and others to form an elite backcourt for ISU’s men’s basketball team. “Tamin was, like, the only player who was here, so seeing him in the gym and in the weight room, it kind of set the tone for me, like, ‘All right, this is what it’s about at Iowa State,’ so I had no choice but to match his work ethic.”

That’s not easy to do, but Lipsey and Gilbert have been on postseason tears heading into Saturday’s 5:10 p.m. second-round NCAA tournament game between the second-seeded Cyclones (28-7) and No. 7 seed Washington State (25-9).

Lipsey’s dished out 23 assists to just three turnovers since ISU’s regular season ended with a disappointing, 65-58, loss at Kansas State. Gilbert’s averaged 15.8 points while plucking away 14 steals in the same four-game span. Both will need to be similarly productive on Saturday against the long and athletic Cougars, who feature a skilled playmaker in freshman guard Myles Rice.

“The ball pressure needs to be terrific,” said Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger, who hopes to lead his team to the Sweet 16 for the second time in his three seasons. “It needs to be hard for them to get the ball into the post, into the paint. When they're able to do that, we need to be sharp on our rotations, whether we trap, whether we don’t.”

Gilbert and Lipsey — along with sixth man Curtis Jones — are adept at speeding opponents up and forcing live ball turnovers. Showcasing those qualities will be key for ISU as it seeks to leave Omaha with two wins before packing up for a potential trip to Boston on the tournament’s second weekend.

“I’d say, probably, using (our) speed (and) some physicality as well,” Lipsey said when describing how best to defend Washington State. “Obviously, they have a bunch of length, but when you get bigger, you get a little slower sometimes. That’s sort of how it works.”

Usually, anyway. But either way, Lipsey and Gilbert provide a potent one-two combination on the offensive end, too, which is a critical component for any team that hopes to enjoy success in March.

“They’re both tremendously high character guys,” Otzelberger said of his two leading scorers, stealers and assists men. “Both have played point guard their whole lives. Both winners. Both attacking downhill and guys who are great defenders as well.

“I think the respect set in early on and those guys really connected and unified. It’s an amazing dynamic for our team because when you have two guys that can make plays and decisions like they can as well as defend the way they can, it puts your team in great situations.”

Like the one the Cyclones find themselves in on Saturday, where they can extend their tournament run — and simultaneously deepen that bond built last summer.

“We’re both sort of quieter people, sort of keep to ourselves, and do similar things, have similar interests,” Lipsey said. “So we bonded on and off the court and obviously it’s helped us in a major way this year.”

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