Tamin Lipsey's Status Revealed for Players Era Festival Matchup With Creighton

What is Tamin Lipsey's status for the Iowa State Cyclones against the Creighton Bluejays at the Players Era Festival?

Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones picked up a huge victory on Monday afternoon at the Players Era Festival against the St. John’s Red Storm, winning 83-82.

It was an incredible back-and-forth game, living up to the expectations of being one of the best non-conference matchups of the men’s college basketball season. However, it wasn’t all positive for the Cyclones.

Getting the victory was nice, but it may have come at a cost. Star point guard Tamin Lipsey was forced out of the game with about two minutes remaining because of what was being called a lower-body injury.

Will Tamin Lipsey play against Creighton?

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Will he be in the lineup for the team’s second game of the Players Era Festival on Tuesday afternoon against the Creighton Bluejays? According to insider Jon Rothstein, his status will not be determined until tip-off, with Lipsey receiving a game-time decision tag.

Source: Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey (lower body) will be a game-time decision for today’s game against Creighton in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.

Averages 18.4 PPG and 5.2 APG.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) November 25, 2025

*UPDATE* Tamin Lipsey has been announced out for the game against Creighton on Tuesday afternoon, per John Walters on the Cyclone Radio Network, via Cyclone Fanatic.

Tamin Lipsey is OUT today against Creighton, per John Walters on the Cyclone Radio Network.

— Cyclone Fanatic (@cyclonefanatic) November 25, 2025

This is already the second injury that he has dealt with in the last few months. A few weeks before the regular season got underway, he suffered a knee injury during practice that led to him being sidelined for both exhibition games.

One of those games was played against Creighton, and Iowa State did not look good in that matchup.

Not having Lipsey in the lineup would be a massive blow to the Cyclones. He is having an incredible season thus far on both ends of the court, averaging 18.4 points, 5.2 assists, 3.6 rebounds, 3.2 steals and only 0.8 turnovers in 31.2 minutes per game.

The points, assists and steals are all at least tied for the team lead. No one is quite impacting winning like he is in the early going, with his .329 win shares per 40 minutes currently being the best mark in the Big 12.

Iowa State would need team effort to replace Lipsey

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Should Lipsey not be able to get into the lineup on Tuesday against the Bluejays, sixth-year senior Nate Heise would likely step in. Head coach T.J. Otzelberger views him as a sixth starter, and he was in the lineup alongside Killyan Toure, Joshua Jefferson, Milan Momcilovic and Blake Buchanan during the exhibition season.

Filling the Lipsey void will not be easy, but Iowa State has an impressive amount of depth on its roster. Freshman Jamarion Batemon could see an increase in minutes if their senior point guard cannot go, or Otzelberger could dip into that depth and call upon Cade Kelderman.

Even if Lipsey is cleared to play, expect the team to show an abundance of caution. They would love for him to be on the court, but there are bigger goals at stake than winning a game before Thanksgiving.

They need Lipsey healthy to achieve those goals, and pushing him when he isn’t 100 percent healthy would be unnecessarily risky.