What We Learned From Iowa State Basketball's Victory Over Tennessee State

Here's what we learned from an impressive opening round win for the Iowa State Cyclones

Mar 20, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Killyan Toure (27) reacts to a television camera after a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament against the Tennessee State Tigers at Enterprise Center. | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Friday was the opening game for the Iowa State Cyclones in the March Madness, where they look to become National Champions for the first time in program history. Despite an injury to Joshua Jefferson, the Cyclones’ best player, they still won 108-74 over the Tennessee State Tigers. The offense rolled, and the depth players stepped up a ton, providing a dominant performance all game.

The entire game told Iowa State fans tons about their team as a whole. Let’s take a look at three things we learned from the Cyclones’ victory over Tennessee State.

Depth is Elite

This was one of the best games of the season when it comes to players stepping up in important moments. Killyan Toure had by far his best game of his young career, Nate Heise played unreal, Dominykas Pleta stepped up off the bench, Dominick Nelson even played great despite recently exiting the strict TJ Otzelberger rotation. The entire depth was great, and that’s one of the biggest keys for success for Iowa State this season.

Regardless, Iowa State still needs Joshua Jefferson

Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

Just a few minutes into the game, Iowa State lost Jefferson to injury, which seemed like it would affect them. However, nothing really changed. The depth stepped up, star players played well, and the offense was rolling as a whole. But while that is true, the reality is it won’t happen every game. No Jefferson will severely affect their March Madness run, and Iowa State needs to be prepared for that to happen. But on the bright side, the team might get Jefferson back, despite things not looking good originally.

Iowa State is a national title contender

If it wasn’t clear throughout the Big 12 tournament, it’s clear now. Iowa State is certainly a national title contender. There have been a few ups and downs for the Cyclones, but Iowa State has gotten hot in the most important part of the season, which is March.

Against Tennessee State, Iowa State furthered their resume, proving that they can beat solid opponents by a large margin of points even without star players. In addition, both the Duke Blue Devils and Michigan Wolverines struggled in their opening game, which opens up Iowa State to be a genuine contender and a threat to win the NCAA Tournament this March. Hopefully, Jefferson will be ready to go for their game on Sunday against the Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday afternoon.