Lipscomb’s big dance ends in Milwaukee with 82-55 loss to Iowa State

Lipscomb’s March Madness journey was a short one.

The No. 13 Bisons fell to No. 4 Iowa State 82-55 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Milwaukee’s Fiserv Arena on Friday.

This was Lipscomb’s second appearance in the Big Dance and the first for head coach Lennie Acuff.  

The Bisons started slowly but found their footing with an 11-4 run half-way through the first half to take their only lead. 

“I think we’re up one with like 10 minutes to go in the first half, and they hit us like 10-0,” Acuff said. “That makes it tough.” 

From there, it was all Cyclones. Milan Momcilovic had 17 in the first half, establishing the Cyclones’ downhill attack.  

Iowa State finished the game with 50 points in the paint compared to Lipscomb’s 20.  

Acuff reflected on Iowa State’s defense. 

“Yeah, I thought they turned up their pressure, and they got more physical,” Acuff said. 

“I thought we really had a hard time. Every time, in any possession, there’s a defining moment, and we just couldn’t win it. We couldn’t win the spot on either end.”

Iowa State continued to punch.

“They would knock us off our spot when they drove the ball, and then we couldn’t get by them,” Acuff said. “And we just had a hard time getting separation.”

Acuff cited the similar playing style of the teams.

“That’s kind of how we play, is get inside the lane and kick,” Acuff said. “But they’re really good defensively. I mean, everybody we talked to, you try to come up with all these things you can do against them, and I probably watched 15 of their games. Everybody struggled against them.” 

Jacob Ognacevic led the Bisons with 18 points. It was a bittersweet day for him, capping off a stellar season in his home state.  

“Yeah, it was great playing in Milwaukee, especially in Fiserv,” Ognacevic said.

This was Ognacevic’s first game in Wisconsin since high school.

“Just being able to play back home and in Wisconsin,” Ognacevic said. “I had a lot of people here, a lot of family and friends being able to watch. That just meant a lot to me, and I’m happy that we ended the season in my hometown.” 

Despite the loss, Acuff was proud of the team’s journey to get to the tournament.  

“Nothing that happens today is going to take away from what our team did,” Acuff said. “This is as good a group of young men as I’ve ever been around. They kept fighting, and they gave us great memories. God has been so good to us. We’re so thankful to be at Lipscomb.”