Iowa State Cyclones Star Lands on Bob Cousy Award Top 10 Midseason List

This season could be full of accolades for one Iowa State Cyclones star.

Jan 4, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger and guard Tamin Lipsey (center) and forward Joshua Jefferson (left) against the Baylor Bears during the second half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball team has been playing at an incredibly high level throughout the 2025-26 season.

There are a lot of players who have contributed to the team’s success. One of their most consistent performer thus far has been point guard Tamin Lipsey.

In his fourth campaign with the program, the Ames product is the last of a dying breed: a player who spends his entire four-year collegiate career with one school. The senior is putting together another impressive season, which has landed him on several midseason lists.

As announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Lipsey has been selected to the midseason top 10 list for the Bob Cousy Award. This is the 23rd year the award will be handed out, recognizing the best point guard in Division I men’s basketball.

Tamin Lipsey named to Bob Cousy Award midseason top 10

Jan 29, 2026; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey (3) drives the lane in their game with the Colorado Buffaloes during the first half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

He is one of four Big 12 point guards to make the Bob Cousy Award midseason list. Jaden Bradley of the Arizona Wildcats, Kingston Flemings of the Houston Cougars and Christian Anderson of the Texas Tech Red Raiders are the others.

The rest of the top 10 includes reigning Bob Cousy Award winner Braden Smith of the Purdue Boilermakers, Labaron Philon Jr. of the Alabama Crimson Tide, Darius Acuff Jr. of the Arkansas Razorbacks, Bennett Stirtz of the Iowa Hawkeyes, Jeremy Fears Jr. of the Michigan State Spartans and Tyler Tanner of the Vanderbilt Commodores.

THE Floor General

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— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) February 2, 2026

While those 10 are considered the top contenders right now, players can move on and off the list as the season plays out.

Lipsey’s inclusion on this midseason list is warranted. The Iowa State star has played at a high level this season as the leader for one of the best teams in the country.

Tamin Lipsey having award-worthy season for Cyclones

Iowa State Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey (3) celebrates after a score against UFC during the first half in the Big-12 conference on Jan. 20, 2026, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Through 19 games, he is averaging career highs in points (13.4) and assists (5.5) while grabbing 3.9 rebounds and recording 2.4 steals per game. There isn’t another player in the country who has reached all of those statistical plateaus this season.

His assist-to-turnover ratio of 5.25 ranks third in the country and is tops in the Big 12. Should that number remain, he will break the conference single-season record of 5.0 held by Monte Morris, a former Cyclone himself, during the 2016-17 campaign.

This is the second midseason list that Lipsey was put on. He, along with teammate Joshua Jefferson, was named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award watchlist along with 23 other players.

Last year, Lipsey was a semifinalist for the Defensive Player of the Year and was a finalist the year before that. He has earned All-Big 12 Honors for two straight years and is well on his way to a third.