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

The TCU Horned Frogs are the only Big 12 team better than the Iowa State Cyclones in one key metric.

Feb 10, 2026; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs guard Jayden Pierre (1) passes the ball as Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson (5) defends during the second half at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

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.

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.

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 timing than the historic sharpshooter wanting to leave the program. Because of when the deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft was, a return to the Cyclones was virtually impossible because work had to be done on the roster.

Buoying the returning points percentage for Iowa State are Killyan Toure, Blake Buchanan and Jamarion Batemon. They averaged 8.6, 8.5 and 6.6 points per game, respectively, ranking fourth, fifth and sixth on the team.

Big 12 returning scoring by percentage:

TCU 53.3%
Iowa State 37.4%
Colorado 34.2%
Arizona 27.8%
Texas Tech 24.9%
BYU 24.8%
Houston 24.3%
Oklahoma State 19.9%
UCF 13.7%
Baylor 13.4%
Arizona State 7.3%
Kansas 5%
West Virginia 5%
Kansas State 4.7%
Utah 3.8%
Cincinnati 0%

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 19, 2026

Dominykas Pleta, who averaged 4.4 points per game and saw his role increase as the season moved along, was eighth on the team in scoring and is back for his sophomore campaign.

All four of them will see increased opportunities to score the basketball during the 2026-27 season. Their experience in Otzelberger’s system will certainly help, as they know what the coach is expecting from them on both ends of the floor.

Out of the returning players, expect the biggest leap in scoring average to come from Batemon. He could be added to the starting lineup in the shooter’s role that Momcilovic departed. As a freshman, he knocked down 37% of his attempts from 3-point range and is poised to expand on his offensive output.