Everything went right for Tennessee State this season until the first half of Friday’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament first round game.
The Ohio Valley Conference champion Tigers fell behind No. 2 seed Iowa State 38-9 and never recovered, suffering a 108-74 loss at the hands of the Cyclones.
The loss ends TSU’s best season since 1994, the last time they won the OVC and made an appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Iowa State, despite losing star forward Joshua Jefferson to an ankle injury early in the game, got 25 points from freshman guard Killyan Toure 17 points from forward Milan Momcilovic and a near triple-double from guard Blake Buchanan; 11 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
Tennessee State, seeded 15th in the Midwest Regional, was led by junior forward Antoine Lorick III‘s 21 points and eight rebounds. OVC player of the year Aaron Nkrumah also scored 21 for the Tigers, adding six rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Tennessee State concluded a successful first season under new head coach Nolan Smith, making the NCAA tournament for the first time in 32 years, as well as setting a new program Division I record for wins in a season, 23.
