Struggles in This Key Area Resulted in Sweet 16 Loss for Iowa State Basketball

What area was a major issue for the Iowa State Cyclones in the Sweet 16?

Mar 27, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Blake Buchanan (23) and Tennessee Volunteers forward Jaylen Carey (23) battle for the ball in the first half during a Sweet Sixteen game of the Midwest Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at United Center. | David Banks-Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones were unable to advance in the NCAA tournament after losing to the Tennessee Volunteers. Unfortunately, what was a really strong season for the team has resulted in a somewhat disappointing finish. 

Coming into their Sweet 16 matchup against the Volunteers, the Cyclones likely knew that they would be without their star Joshua Jefferson once again. While he was trending in the right direction, that ankle injury that he suffered in the first game of the NCAA tournament was a significant one. 

However, in their first two games, this team performed well without their star. The defense for Iowa State was spectacular, forcing turnovers and applying a ton of pressure. This helped make things easier for their offense, getting out in transition for easy buckets.

Unfortunately, against a strong Volunteers team, the absence of their star forward proved to be too much for the team to overcome on Friday night. In the loss, one area was really key, and it unfortunately was a spot that Jefferson could have helped in. 

Dominated on the Glass

Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger | David Banks-Imagn Images

It hasn’t happened too much this season that the Cyclones were dominated on the glass like they were against Tennessee. Overall, Iowa State lost the battle of the boards 43-22. Being nearly doubled up on the glass was certainly a shocker to see, and it’s safe to assume that if Jefferson was playing, that wouldn’t have been the case on Friday night. 

Even though the defense played well at times for the Cyclones, they had struggles finishing off possessions. The Volunteers were able to grab 16 offensive rebounds in the win, giving themselves a plethora of second-chances. 

A good team like Tennessee is capable of making an opponent pay if given extra chances, and that’s exactly what happened. The Volunteers had two players record 10 rebounds, with the leading rebounder for the Cyclones recording just five. 

With rebounding being an area that Iowa State has thrived in for most of the year, it is unfortunate to see it being a main reason why they lost this game. Not having Jefferson was figured to catch up to the team eventually, but seeing the season come to an end in the Sweet 16 is still a bit of a disappointment. 

While this campaign was a very successful one, it will undoubtedly come with a bit of a ‘what if’ because of the injury to Jefferson.