The No. 2 seed Iowa State Cyclones entered the NCAA Tournament with Final Four hopes.
But, after just one half of basketball, those hopes might have taken a massive hit. Iowa State star Joshua Jefferson suffered an ankle injury in the first half of the Round of 64 game against No. 15 Tennessee State on Friday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo.
Jefferson suffered the injury less than three minutes into the game and had to be helped off the court.
Iowa State's Joshua Jefferson was helped off the floor after an apparent ankle injury pic.twitter.com/R4xaFzgsJU
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 20, 2026
Jefferson was the Cyclones’ leading rebounder (7.4) and he was second on the team in points per game (16.6) and tied for second in assists (5.0) during the regular season.
Iowa State entered March Madness with a 27-7 record and a two-point loss to Arizona in the Big 12 Tournament.
At halftime, Jefferson’s injury didn’t make a big difference as Iowa State had a commanding 55-29 lead.
Jefferson is a senior who is in his second year with the Cyclones after transferring from St. Mary’s.
Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said Jefferson is a “huge part of everything we do” when asked about adjusting following the injury.
"For our team, Joshua (Jefferson) is such a huge part of everything we do. So we have a more guard-oriented attack when he's not out there." @CycloneMBB's T. J. Otzelberger w/ our @JonRothstein pic.twitter.com/j9kWCWCIDJ
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 20, 2026
Shortly after leaving, Jefferson was ruled doubtful to return, and his status going forward will be a key injury to monitor.
After the game, Otzelberger said Jefferson had a sprained ankle and mentioned they would re-evaluate it in the next “day or two.”
Iowa State will face the No. 7 seed Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday, and Mark Pope’s team just won in thrilling fashion over No. 10 Santa Clara.
