Players Era Updates Day 3: Iowa State a top-10 team even without star; 7-1 Houston still a work in progress

Matt Norlander has spent the past few days on the Vegas Strip, bouncing back and forth between the two arenas hosting this year’s Players Era Championship. He’s been providing insider information throughout each day of the event. You can read his Monday notebook here and his recap from Tuesday here. 

LAS VEGAS — The team that has a claim to the biggest gripe over the format of the 2025 Players Era Championship is Iowa State.

The Cyclones went 2-0 against St. John’s and Creighton, winning those games by a total of 19 points. It wasn’t enough to finish in the top four, however, which meant ISU not only didn’t make the championship or third-place game on Wednesday, it had to face Syracuse at 10 a.m. local for the first game of the day — with no bonus NIL money on the line.

T.J. Otzelberger’s team looked like it was playing pissed off: Cyclones 95, Orange 64. There were 18 teams involved in this sophomore edition of the Players Era Championship. Iowa State will fly back to Ames as one of three with a 3-0 record in the event. The Cyclones are ranked No. 15 but should see their standing jump into the top 10 of the AP rankings next week.

This very much looks like a top-10 squad — all the more because ISU won two games without starting point guard Tamin Lipsey, who is dealing with a groin issue. Otzelberger said after Wednesday’s win that they’ll take a cautious approach before ISU’s next game against Alcorn State a week from now, on Dec. 3, but it sure seems like Lipsey should be able to be back for the huge battle at No. 1 Purdue on Saturday, Dec. 6. 

To get a better sense of what Lipsey’s dealing with, I asked Otzelberger if he would’ve played if, say, the injury he has right now was happening in the NCAA Tournament. 

As for not getting to play Tennessee or Kansas or Gonzaga or Michigan, Otzelberger was diplomatic about the matter in the postgame press conference. 

“How our team operates is just whatever is in front of us we are going ti tackle with the best intent and mindset, mentality, and that’s where we’ll keep our focus,” he said. “Our guys did a great job of doing that today, and that’s really all that matters.”

After the presser, Otzelberger talked with a small group reporters and he echoed what he told me on Tuesday after beating Creighton: “Look, I don’t care, 10 out of 10 times, we’re not taking the shot against (Greg) McDermott. Anyone can rip me if they want. To me, the right thing to do is we don’t take that that shot.”

Big picture on Iowa State is the team is again going to be one of the best in the Big 12. Joshua Jefferson’s playing like an All-American through the first three-plus weeks of the season. He averaged 16.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists over the past three days. I also love French freshman Killyan Toure’s game. What a silky, savvy player. 

With Lipsey sidelined, Toure moved into a more prominent role, totaling 49 points on 15-of-24 shooting against Creighton and Syracuse. He also had six assists and three steals Wednesday. 

“I just played my game, took the opportunity to win, because that’s the most important thing. The win matters more than what I’m doing on the court, the stats and all that stuff,” Toure told CBS Sports. “We showed our identity on the court in these three games.”

Iowa State’s next big-stage opportunity is at Mackey Arena in 10 days. That’s a tough ask, but given how good ISU has looked, it’ll be one of the best matchups of the first week of December. 

Sampson: I want us to look our worst in November

Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars will leave Las Vegas with a 2-1 record after beating Syracuse on Monday, losing in a heavyweight fight Tuesday vs. Tennessee, then overpowering Notre Dame on Wednesday. The third-ranked Cougars held off the Fighting Irish 66-56 in the second men’s game of the day out here. Houston got out to a 26-4 lead to start the game, then the Irish pushed as hard as they could to close it to a four-point gap in the second half. 

Things eventually settled in Houston’s favor.

It was the second year in a row Notre Dame had to face Houston at Players Era. 

“I am going to petition to never, ever see them again,” Fighting Irish coach Micah Shrewsberry said tongue-in-cheek afterward.

Houston is 7-1 and has almost a week and a half off before hosting Florida State on Dec. 6. Sampson said afterward that the break is critical coming off three games in three days with a team more reliant on freshman than he’s ever had. To wit: Kingston Flemings was incredible in the Tennessee loss, but managed only one point (and five assists) against Notre Dame.

“People judging us right now see us fragmented,” Sampson said. “There are some teams that play their best basketball in November. I’d rather play my worst basketball in November.”

After loss to Tennessee, Houston had to wait until close to 9 p.m. local time to find out its opponent. That meant Notre Dame and Houston had less than 15 hours to prep for their game. Shrewsberry said one of his assistant actually banked on their team likely getting the loser of Houston-Tennessee, while Sampson said his team’s play against Tennessee was more on his mind than the timeliness of knowing the final opponent.

“Yeah, that was interesting,” he said. “Not knowing the opponent took a back seat to the disappointment of not playing better. Sometimes it’s not about whether you win or lose, you want your team to play better. … We’re not operating at a deficit. It’s all the same. It’s just your attitude and how you approach it.”

Reminder: Last season’s Cougars started 4-3, then went 31-2 all the way to the national title game. This team’s ceiling can match that, but Sampson said it’s going to take a lot of patience with a freshman group that needs more time and a lot more learning. 

2025 Players Era Results

Wednesday’s scores, schedule

Thursday’s schedule

Monday’s scores

Tuesday’s scores

This notebook will update later on Wednesday, as more results from Players Era come in.