T.J. Otzelberger Shares Encouraging Update on Injured Iowa State Cyclones Star

What is the status of an Iowa State Cyclones star on the hardwood moving forward?

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The Iowa State Cyclones left Las Vegas and the Players Era Festival with a 3-0 record, improving their overall mark to 7-0 on the season.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t all positive on their trip to Sin City. In their first game of the tournament against the St. John’s Red Storm, their star point guard, Tamin Lipsey, suffered a lower-body injury in the final minutes of the game.

It was eventually revealed as a groin injury, and he didn’t play in the final two games in Las Vegas against the Creighton Bluejays and Syracuse Orange.

The Cyclones are set to take the court again on Wednesday against the Alcorn State Braves at Hilton Coliseum. Will Lipsey be in the lineup for that game? Head coach T.J. Otzelberger provided an encouraging update on his status after practice on Tuesday.

T.J. Otzelberger shares Tamin Lipsey update

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"He's continuing to progress every single day," Otzelberger said, via Alec Busse of Cyclone Alert, part of the 247Sports network. "We just finished practice. He's going to do some additional evaluations with our medical staff this afternoon. He's trending in a good direction."

That is certainly an encouraging update that Lipsey is heading in the right direction and has suffered no setbacks. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he will be back on the court tomorrow night against the Braves.

"I want him to be fully healthy before he steps back out [onto the floor],” the head coach added.

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When that will be is anyone’s guess. The team is continuing to list him as day-to-day, which is a positive in itself because it means they don’t believe it is too serious an injury.

Alcorn State is a team that Iowa State should be able to handle without their star in the lineup. They are 1-8 on the season and seemingly don’t present much of a threat to the Cyclones.

However, this is a prototypical trap game. A lot of people are ignoring the Braves and already turning attention to the massive matchup Iowa State has this weekend with the No. 1-ranked Purdue Boilermakers in West Lafayette, Indiana, at Mackey Arena.

Iowa State has the depth to overcome Lipsey loss

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That is likely when the Cyclones are targeting their point guard to make his return. However, the team isn’t going to rush him.

"I don't want him to feel any pressure to play or feel like he has to play," Otzelberger later said. "I want it to be when he feels great, he returns. So, again, we'll just stay on [him being] day-to-day because it literally could be any day."

Another reason there is no pressure to rush Lipsey back is that the supporting cast has stepped up while he is sidelined. Freshman Killyan Toure looks like a clone of the senior point guard, improving each time he steps on the court.

Sixth-year senior Nate Heise has proven to be the kind of glue guy every successful basketball team has on the roster. He has stepped into the starting five in Lipsey’s spot and acclimated seamlessly, with Otzelberger turning to the same group he had in the exhibition games.

That kind of depth is a luxury not every team has, but Otzelberger can take full advantage of, patiently waiting for his star to return.