How to Watch Iowa State Basketball vs Kentucky Wildcats in NCAA Tournament

In the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Iowa State Cyclones will be taking on the Kentucky Wildcats with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.

It was an extremely impressive showing for the Cyclones on Friday against the Tennessee State Tigers. Iowa State was able to run their opponent out of the gym, and what was most impressive was them being able to do it without star forward Joshua Jefferson.

On Friday, they saw their star roll his ankle early on in the game, and he went right to the back for X-rays. While his status is still a bit of an unknown, Iowa State performed really well without him.

Now, they will face a Kentucky team coming off a thrilling win over the Santa Clara Broncos. A half-court buzzer beater to tie the game helped force overtime, and the Wildcats took care of business in the extra time. This should be a fun matchup between two power conference foes, and here is how to watch.

Who: Kentucky Wildcats vs. Iowa State Cyclones

When: Sunday, March 22, 2026, 2:45 PM ET

Television: CBS

Where: Enterprise Center (St. Louis, MO)

Clones vs. Cats

🔗: https://t.co/099A4ouy1Q #Cyclones | #C5C pic.twitter.com/ZylROpazXX
— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) March 22, 2026

Coming into the NCAA tournament, the Cyclones were a team that was able to build some momentum following a great showing in the Big 12 tournament. Iowa State was able to completely dismantle the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Texas Tech Red Raiders before losing a thriller to the Arizona Wildcats.

While the Cyclones might not have been able to win that game, they proved to everyone that they are one of the best teams in the country and can compete with anyone. While the health of Jefferson is going to be an important thing to monitor, they also showed that they can be very good without him.

In the win over the Tigers, Iowa State was able to have multiple players step up and help them secure the win. Killyan Toure had his best game of the season and looked like a completely different player than he has all season offensively. Furthermore, Nate Heise also put together a fantastic performance.

If Jefferson is going to miss time, it will be important that both Toure and Heise are able to contribute. The Cyclones don’t have a clear replacement at the power forward position for Jefferson, and they will need their guards to step up in what will be smaller lineups for the team.