NBA Draft: Previewing Tonight's Tennessee-Iowa State Sweet 16 Matchup

March Madness has been an incredible watch so far, with what feels like most games coming down to the wire. Last night's early Sweet Sixteen matchups were no different -- Purdue defeated Texas by two on a last-second tip-in by Trey Kaufman-Renn while Iowa beat Nebraska by six and was a three-point game with less than a minute remaining. While the late Sweet Sixteen games last night were not quite as close, the sheer number of high-level prospects on the floor in both the Arizona-Arkansas and Illinois-Houston matchups was remarkable and will be key games to conduct film studies on once the season ends.

Tonight's Sweet Sixteen lineup is another strong one, with St John's facing Duke, Alabama playing Michigan, the Spartans going up against the UConn Huskies, and Tennessee facing Iowa State. Below we'll take a look at who to watch in the latter matchup of Tennessee-Iowa State.

Tennessee Volunteers

Nate Ament

The top prospect on this team is none other than 6-foot-10 freshman guard Nate Ament. He's averaging 16.9 points, 2.3 assists, 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 stocks, and 2.3 turnovers per game while shooting 52.3% at the rim (109 attempts), 37.7% on non-rim twos (167 attempts), 32.8% from beyond the arc (131 attempts | 7.9 attempts per 100 possessions), and 79.2% from the free throw line (240 attempts).

Ament's production has been impressive this season, but improve his finishing numbers and physicality at the next level will be important. It should be noted that Ament can draw fouls at a high rate, with a .59 free-throw rate this season. Additionally, he's recording a 14.7 assist percentage and a 4.5 stock percentage.

Lastly, the projected lottery pick is on track to meet the Efficient Tall Freshman (ETF) query this season -- 41 of the 60 players (68%) who have met the criteria played five-plus years in the NBA or are currently in the league.

Ja'Kobi Gillespie

Gillespie is averaging 18.4 points, 5.6 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 steals, and 2.3 turnovers per game while shooting 58% at the rim (150 attempts), 34.4% on non-rim twos (96 attempts), 34.5% from three (281 attempts | 13.8 three point attempts per 100 possessions), and 81.3% from the free throw line (139 attempts).

The 6-foot-1 senior has been tasked with being a high-usage creator for Tennessee, as he's been unassisted on 53% of his made field goals this season while assisting on an estimated 30.9% of his teammates' made field goals when on the floor this season.

It's become increasingly difficult for undersized guards to stick in the NBA, so what Gillespie measures in at will be an interesting development.

Other players to monitor for Rick Barnes' team include 6-foot-5 freshman Amari Evans, 6-foot-4 sophomore Bishop Boswell, and 6-foot-11 senior Felix Okpara.

Iowa State Cyclones

The Cyclones have three players to watch that are in the conversation as the team's top NBA prospect -- Joshua Jefferson, Milan Momcilovic, and Tamin Lipsey. With Jefferson questionable to play tonight with an ankle injury, we'll focus on Momcilovic and Lipsey.

Milan Momcilovic

Momcilovic is a 6-foot-8, 220-pound wing who's averaging 17.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, one assist, 1.1 stocks, and 0.8 turnovers per game while shooting 79.4% at the rim (only 34 attempts), 46.9% on non-rim twos (96 attempts), 49.3% from beyond the arc (272 attempts | 14.5 three point attempts per 100 possessions, and 87.8% from the free throw line (82 attempts).

Quite simply, the junior is one of the best shooters in the country and has positional size, but there are a few questions. The first is whether or not he has the NBA-level athleticism to capitalize on this shooting ability to become an off screen or movement shooter at the next level. With (or without) this versatile shooting ability, the next question would be what else he does at an NBA-level as well as his defense and overall non-shooting production as a whole. Regardless, he's an NBA prospect to monitor in this game who can return to college and may eventually receive a two-way contract in the NBA.

Tamin Lipsey

Lipsey is averaging 13.3 points, 5.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 steals, and 1.5 turnovers per game while shooting 61.9% at the rim (126 attempts), 43.9% on non-rim twos (98 attempts), 31.8% from three (129 attempts), and 65.8% from the free throw line (114 attempts). It should be noted that this is a worse shooting season than normal on only slightly more volume than previous seasons, as he's a career 33.6% shooter from beyond the arc and 71.2% shooter from the line. Additionally, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound guard is recording a 27.8 assist percentage and a steal percentage of 4.3 (the latter is 21st of all Division 1 players playing in at least one-third of their team's minutes this season). He's currently a projected late second round pick and could receive two-way contract offers.

Other players to monitor for Iowa State include 6-foot-3 freshman guards Killyan Toure and Jamarion Bateman.