Iowa State Cyclones vs Cincinnati Bearcats Picks and Predictions March 12th 2025

No. 12 Iowa State Begins NCAA Prep Against Cincinnati

Iowa State reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in two of the past three seasons, and the Cyclones eye the Big 12 tournament as the time to create some momentum.

Iowa State Looking for Strong Tournament Push

The No. 12 Cyclones, seeded fifth in the conference tournament, begin their quest for a deep March run when they face 13th-seeded Cincinnati in the second round at Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday.

Iowa State (23-8) closed the regular season with a 73-57 road victory over Kansas State after dropping three of its previous four games. The Cyclones are aware of the difficult path ahead, with top-seeded Houston looming in their section of the bracket.

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“Obviously, don’t want to look too far in the future, just want to focus on one game at a time, especially when it’s win or go home,” Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey said. “But, obviously, it’s set up for us to have some games where we can go and show that we can win those, and we’ll focus on (Wednesday’s) first.”

Cyclones coach T.J. Otzelberger believes his team is built for the grind of tournament play, pointing to their experience at the Maui Invitational earlier this season.

“When you play at a tournament like Maui early in the year and you go game to game to game and you play really good competition, that’s the reason why you play in something like that—to help prepare you for this,” Otzelberger said.

Iowa State boasts five double-digit scorers, with Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year Curtis Jones leading the team with 17 points per game and a team-best 74 made 3-pointers.

“It’s the best time of the year if you’re a basketball fan, so I’m enjoying it and looking forward to playing,” Jones said.

Cincinnati Aiming for Upset

Cincinnati (18-14) needs a deep Big 12 tournament run after losing five of its final seven regular-season games and falling off the NCAA Tournament bubble.

The Bearcats secured an 87-68 first-round win over 12th-seeded Oklahoma State on Tuesday, but they will need a signature victory against Iowa State to keep their postseason hopes alive.

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“I haven’t had a chance to dive into that one yet because, gosh, we were so concerned about (Oklahoma State),” Cincinnati coach Wes Miller said. “I’m not just giving coach talk, but I mean it. This is a one-game tournament.”

Josh Reed scored a career-high 19 points against Oklahoma State, while Dillon Mitchell posted a career-best 15 rebounds to go along with 18 points. Day Day Thomas added a season-high 21 points and a career-best six steals as Cincinnati forced 18 steals with an aggressive defensive effort.

“We got our hands on a lot of balls and I think that’s why you see the high steal numbers,” Miller said. “I thought we had good pop.”

Cincinnati’s leading scorer, Jizzle James (12.9 PPG), was limited to just seven points on 2-of-10 shooting.

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Iowa State won the lone regular-season meeting between the teams, defeating Cincinnati 81-70 on Feb. 15. Otzelberger is 2-0 against the Bearcats during his four seasons as the Cyclones’ coach.

What’s Next?

The winner of Wednesday’s matchup will advance to face top-seeded Houston in the Big 12 quarterfinals on Thursday.

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