Iowa State Basketball Will Have Edge Over Every Big 12 Team Except TCU

Arguably, the biggest question facing the Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball team heading into the 2026-27 campaign is who is going to replace all the scoring production that has been lost from last season’s Sweet Sixteen squad?

Their top three scorers, Milan Momcilovic, Joshua Jefferson and Tamin Lipsey, are not returning. Momcilovic declared for the NBA Draft and entered the transfer portal, landing with the Kentucky Wildcats. Jefferson and Lipsey exhausted eligibility and are looking to live out their NBA dreams.

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There isn’t a single player returning for the Cyclones who averaged double-digit points during the 2025-26 campaign. However, they are still in much better shape in terms of returning scorers than every other team in the Big 12 except for the TCU Horned Frogs.

As shared by college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, Iowa State is bringing back 37.4% of its scoring output from this past season. That is the second-best mark in the conference, with only TCU being better at 53.3%.

Iowa State returning second most points percentage wise in Big 12

Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Killyan Toure (27) drives to the basket during the second half against the Kentucky Wildcats during a second round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

The Arizona Wildcats, who finished in first place in the Big 12 regular season standings and won the 2026 Big 12 Tournament, are in fourth place, returning 27.8% of their points. The Houston Cougars and Kansas Jayhawks, the only other teams to finish ahead of the Cyclones, are returning 24.3% and 5%, which puts them in seventh and 12th, respectively.

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Despite losing its top three scorers, it isn’t all too surprising that Iowa State is near the top of such a leaderboard. Head coach T.J. Otzelberger has done a wonderful job of retaining talent year over year and did so again this offseason.

The Momcilovic departure hurts, but that was more a product of bad…

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Publish date : 2026-06-20 00:00:00

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