Tamin Lipsey Joins Elite Iowa State Cyclones Company With Record-Setting Performance

Iowa State Cyclones point guard Tamin Lipsey had a night to remember in the 2025-26 season opener against the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights.

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Easily the biggest storyline for the Iowa State Cyclones heading into their season opener against the Fairleigh Dickson Knights was the status of point guard Tamin Lipsey.

He was injured a few weeks ago in practice. While going up for a rebound, he suffered a sprained MCL in his knee, sidelining him for a period of time.

Lipsey didn’t participate in either exhibition game against the Creighton Bluejays or the Northwestern Wildcats. His main goal was returning to action for the first game of the campaign on Nov. 3.

He was able to achieve that goal, taking the court as the starting point guard. Head coach T.J. Otzelberger spoke about having him back in the lineup after so much uncertainty.

Tamin Lipsey dominated in return to Iowa State lineup

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“Yeah, so he had three full practices under his belt, but we didn't want to put any undue pressure on him to see how he felt and how his body reacted after each one. And truly, he's been through some stuff over time, and so he knows his body better than anyone. Vic Miller, our trainer, did a phenomenal job working with him,” the head coach said, via Alec Busse of Cyclone Alert, part of the 247Sports Network.

Iowa State was certainly happy to have its leader back on the court. His presence was certainly missed during the exhibition games, especially against Creighton, with the team struggling in every facet of the game.

Massive favorites heading into the game against Fairleigh Dickson, it was the perfect opportunity for him to start getting a rhythm again on the court. It didn’t take long, with Lipsey stuffing the stat sheet.

He scored 18 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists. His presence was most felt on the defensive end, where he joined a club that includes very few Cyclones.

Tamin Lipsey makes history with five-steal game

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Lipsey racked up five steals against the Knights, the sixth time in his career he has recorded 5+ steals. That puts him in an elite club with Jamaal Tinsley and Jeff Hornacek as the only other players in program history to have that many 5+ steal games.

‼️ELITE COMPANY‼️

Jamaal Tinsley. Jeff Hornacek. Tamin Lipsey.

The Only Three Players in School History with Six-Plus Games of 5+ Steals.#Cyclones | #C5C | @TaminLipsey pic.twitter.com/mY2nuGEpHF

— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) November 4, 2025

Otzelberger was very impressed with what he saw from his senior guard on opening night.

“I mean, knocks down the three right away. He's explosive, getting to the basket, made a lot of plays defensively, chased down some loose balls. So we came into it with the mindset of, he's full go and let's let him have at it and see where he's at, and he did a great job,” he said.

It was about as good a return to the court as Lipsey and the team could have hoped for. He was showing no ill effects of the injury and was making a major impact on both ends, helping Iowa State to a convincing 88-50 victory.