ST. LOUIS (AP) — All-America forward Joshua Jefferson is getting a second chance at going out on his own terms at Iowa State.
With their star unable to play because of a sprained left ankle suffered just minutes into their NCAA Tournament opener, the second-seeded Cyclones overwhelmed No. 7 seed Kentucky in the second half Sunday for an 82-63 win.
The Cyclones (29-7) will face either No. 3 seed Virginia or sixth-seeded Tennessee in the Midwest Region
semifinals in Chicago on Friday.
“It’s huge. Just the last couple days, I’ve just been going through my mind of that might have been my last game,” Jefferson said. “But knowing that I have a chance Friday to try to get back healthy and get back out there is huge for me.”
A 6-foot-9 forward, the NBA prospect is averaging 16.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists and was envisioning a long tournament run for the sixth-ranked Cyclones before he landed awkwardly and turned his ankle after a layup attempt in the first round against Tennessee State.
During the Kentucky game, he was cheering on his teammates from the end of the bench and wheeling his way into timeout huddles on a scooter.
“Obviously, we wanted to win this game to hopefully get him back for next weekend. You know, we wouldn’t want his career to end like this, where he couldn’t do anything about it,” forward Blake Buchanan said. “So hopefully we can get him healthy.”
Coach T.J. Otzelberger said Jefferson would have an MRI on Monday morning to reassess the injury. Jefferson was planning to participate in water therapy exercises as soon as the Cyclones returned to campus on Sunday night, and he expects to have multiple rehab sessions per day leading up to the next game.
“I’m going to do everything my power to get healthy and see what we can do for the next couple days,” Jefferson said. “These next couple days will be big for me.”
There were some nervous moments for Iowa State with Jefferson sidelined. Kentucky raced out to a 20-9 lead, and the Cyclones made just seven of their first 29 shots (24.1%). In a dramatic turnaround, they made 21 of their final 31 (67.7%).
“I’m just very proud. It’s so fun to see everybody playing well and playing off of each other,” Jefferson said. “I think the first five minutes of the game was just an adjustment period. But then after they got out of that, there was smooth sailing after that.”
Tamin Lipsey led the way with 26 points and 10 assists, and Milan Momcilovic scored 20. With usual sixth man Nate Heise in the starting lineup, the Cyclones got just five points from reserves.
“We have a great chemistry,” said guard Killyan Toure, who contributed 10 points and three steals. “Everybody has the back of anybody on our team, so that’s great, We just did our job today, and we’ll do the same thing on the next game.”
Jefferson, whose father is former NFL offensive lineman Ben Jefferson, had scored in double figures in 40 straight games before he was injured. He also had three games this season with at least 10 assists and no turnovers.
“When you go out there and you don’t have J-Jeff, the guy is an elite competitor, a winner, been such a great leader for us, so we miss him in so many aspects,” coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “But our guys know that if we count on each other, we trust each other and we believe in one another, that we can accomplish anything. The best way we can honor him at this point is to continue to play our best.”
Jefferson is playing in his third NCAA Tournament, but each of the previous runs — in 2023 with Saint Mary's and last year with Iowa State — ended in the second round.
“It’ll be my first time being a part of the second weekend on a team,” Jefferson said. “So that’s huge, and it’s just gonna make me even want to get out there even more.”
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
