Three Key Stats From Iowa State Cyclones' Loss to Arizona Wildcats

Here are three key stats for the Iowa State Cyclones in their loss to the Arizona Wildcats.

Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball head coach T.J. Otzelberger watches the game from the bench during the second half in the Big-12 conference men’s basketball against Texas Tech on Feb. 28, 2026, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones came into Big Monday hoping to get a signature win against the Arizona Wildcats on the road. Unfortunately, despite some good efforts, they came up well short of a win. 

Struggles on the road have been an unfortunate trend for the program, and they have finished up their road games in the Big 12 with five losses now. That is not an overly encouraging sign going into March Madness, but the travel schedule and the level of competition in the conference have been tough. 

It would have been nice to see the Cyclones perform a little bit better in this game. While the defense did well for the most part, the offense once again struggled. Here are three key stats from their loss to the Wildcats. 

92%

Even though the offense might not have performed well on Monday night, one area that was good was the free-throw shooting for the team. The Cyclones have been one of the worst teams in terms of free-throw percentage in the conference, but in the loss, they went 12-for-13 for a really strong 92%. As the team heads into the NCAA Tournament, good shooting from the charity stripe is going to be key. 

27 Minutes 

Iowa State Cyclones guard Jamarion Batemon | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

An interesting development that is continuing is the increased role that Jamarion Batemon is playing for the Cyclones down the stretch. With the struggles of Killyan Toure, especially on offense, it has been Batemon getting more playing time. On Monday, he logged 27 minutes.

Despite a slow start shooting in his own right, he did hit some shots eventually to finish with 14 points off the bench. It is going to be interesting to see if this trend continues for Iowa State, but the struggles of Toure have really negatively impacted the team.  

2-For-17

The star of the Cyclones, Joshua Jefferson, had a night to forget on the road against the Wildcats. Arizona features one of the best front courts in the country, and that unit caused a lot of problems for Iowa State. 

Jefferson picked up three fouls in the first half, and his fourth came fairly early in the second half. Him having to sit with foul trouble obviously did not help the Cyclones in this one, and when he was on the court he didn’t perform well. 

Overall, the star for Iowa State has his worst game of the season, going 2-for-17 from the field. It was a night to forget for Jefferson, and he will undoubtedly be looking to have a bounce-back performance against the Arizona State Sun Devils on Senior Night.