My friend and former colleague, ESPN 1530 and 700WLW’s Austin Elmore, says that basketball season starts the Monday after the Super Bowl. If that’s the case, it starts at the stretch run.
There are four weeks remaining in the regular season, and that means everything gets magnified as we head into March Madness. That’s especially the case for the Cincinnati Bearcats, who are right on the bubble as they look to keep building their NCAA Tournament resume.
Tuesday night the Bearcats welcome in 10th-ranked Iowa State, a solid team that sits just a half game out of first place in the Big 12. The sentiment echoed by Bearcats head coach Wes Miller and among fans and media is that this is a must-win game. Win this game, and you’re back to .500 at home in Big 12 play and a third win over a top 15 team in Big 12 play. Lose and you’re 2-4 at home in Big 12 and 4-7 overall. With that, here are my Players to Watch and Keys to the Game for Tuesday night.
1. #10 Keshon Gilbert, 6’4″, 200 lbs., Jr., G, St. Louis, Missouri, UNLV Transfer
13.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 46.2 FG%, 29.9 3-PT FG%, 73.1 FT%, 96 ast.-66 TO, 39 stl, 30.1 mpg
A friend of mine said to me recently that Keshon Gilbert is one of the best players in college basketball that nobody talks about. He’s having a nice first season with Iowa State and in the Big 12, and he’s scored in double figures in six of his last seven games that includes two 20-point games. Gilbert also hit the 20-point mark four times earlier this season.
2. #3 Tamin Lipsey, 6’1″, 200 lbs., So., G, Ames, Iowa
13.2 ppg, 5 rpg, 43.7 FG%, 37.8 3-PT FG%, 65.6 FT%, 123 ast.-48 TO, 65 stl, 30.8 mpg
A homegrown player, Lipsey is making huge strides in his second season at Iowa State. His scoring is up almost six points per game from last season, and he’s on pace to pass his previous season’s totals in assists and steals. In addition, he’s averaging one more rebound per game than 2022-23. But the stat that really stands out to me is last year when he was one of just two players to average at least 7.3 points, 4.4 assists, four rebounds, 2.2 steals and 2.45 or fewer turnovers. So that should tell you that he does a lot of things well without making mistakes. He has 16 games with five or more assists and 17 games with multiple steals. A smart and aggressive player, keep your eye on Lipsey in Tuesday night’s game.
