Tamin Lipsey scored 20 points to help fifth-seeded Iowa State roll to a 75-53 victory over fourth-seeded Texas Tech on Thursday afternoon in Kansas City and advance to the Big 12 tournament semifinals.

Joshua Jefferson added 18 points, 13 rebounds and six assists as the No. 7-ranked Cyclones overcame an early 12-point deficit in the quarterfinal clash. Dominykas Pleta added 11 points off the bench as Iowa State (27-6) notched its second big performance in two days.

The Cyclones will face either top-seeded Arizona or eighth-seeded UCF in Friday’s semifinals.

LeJuan Watts had 12 points and seven rebounds and Christian Anderson scored 10 points for No. 16 Texas Tech (22-10).

The Red Raiders dropped to 3-3 since losing star big man J.T. Toppin to a season-ending ACL injury.

The Cyclones have won their two Big 12 tournament games by a combined 71 points. They were victorious by 49 points to set a Big 12 tournament record while routing Arizona State on Wednesday.

Iowa State shot 53.6% from the field, including 7 of 18 from 3-point range. The Cyclones held a 39-29 rebounding advantage.

The Red Raiders shot 33.9% and were 9 of 29 from the 3-point range.

In the second half, Iowa State shot 65.2% from the field, while Texas Tech made just 22.2%.

Iowa State turned the game into the blowout by making nine straight shots, eight coming during a 21-4 run to lead by 22.

Milan Momcilovic started the burst with a trey to give the Cyclones a 47-39 lead with 15:41 remaining. Jefferson followed with a putback, Lipsey converted a layup and Jefferson scored again to make it 53-39 with 12:31 remaining.

Jamarion Batemon and Lipsey followed with 3-pointers to push the margin to 20 with 10:39 to play.

After Texas Tech moved within 60-43, Lipsey drained a trey and Pleta added a fastbreak dunk to make it 65-43 with 8:37 to play.

Pleta later scored four straight points and Jefferson slammed home a fastbreak dunk to put the margin to 24 with 2:55 remaining.

Texas Tech was hot at the outset and a layup by Watts gave it a 17-5 lead just six-plus minutes into the game.

But the Cyclones quickly recovered with a 15-2 burst and Lipsey’s 3-pointer gave Iowa State a 20-19 edge with 9:57 left in the half.

Batemon drained a 3-pointer with three seconds left to give Iowa State a 36-33 halftime lead.

Lipsey had 10 points in the first half for the Cyclones. Watts scored 11 points for the Red Raiders and Anderson added 10.

–Field Level Media

The Houston Dynamo reacquired forward Aliyu Ibrahim from the Columbus Crew on Thursday.

In exchange for the 24-year-old Nigeria native, the Crew received $250,000 in general allocation money and up to $500,000 more in performance-based GAM.

Ibrahim played with Houston from 2023-25, tallying nine goals and five assists in 66 MLS matches (51 starts).

“We are pleased to welcome Aliyu Ibrahim back to Houston, where he played an important role during two successful seasons with our club,” Dynamo president of soccer Pat Onstad said. “As we continue evolving our system this season, we are looking to add depth to our wingback group, and Aliyu has the qualities to thrive in that role.

“His ability to cover ground, attack space and contribute on both sides of the ball fits well with the expectations of our wide players. We look forward to welcoming him and his family back to the city of Houston.”

Ibrahim had three goals and two assists in 23 appearances (12 starts) last season after being traded to the Crew in April. He has not played yet this season.

–Field Level Media

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Former world No. 1 amateur Maverick McNealy reeled off five birdies in his first 12 holes before seizing an early one-shot lead in a weather-hit opening round of The Players Championship on Thursday.

The 30-year-old McNealy, who won his lone PGA Tour title at the 2024 RSM Classic, briefly moved two strokes clear of the elite field after hitting a superb approach to 5 feet at the par-4 12th and knocking in the birdie putt.

McNealy then offset a bogey at No. 15 with another birdie at the 16th hole en route to a 5-under-par 67 on a blustery and occasionally rain-swept day at TPC Sawgrass.

“I just mastered the variability of what the golf course threw at us really well,” McNealy said.

“It was a mixed bag of everything, felt like four different seasons out there. When that wind flipped, I knew 16 was going to be kind of my last birdie opportunity, so I had 8-iron into that hole and I was glad to take advantage of that, and then hung on really well the last two.”

As thunderstorms moved in from the west, play was suspended at 12.09 p.m. ET before being resumed at 12.30 p.m. Consequently, afternoon tee times were pushed back by 30 minutes.

World No. 6 Russell Henley and fellow American Justin Thomas, who won this event in 2021 and is making his second PGA Tour start of the year after undergoing back surgery in November, opened with 68s on a tightly bunched leaderboard.

World No. 3 Tommy Fleetwood of England, American Tony Finau, Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and Norway’s Viktor Hovland carded 69s. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, bidding for a rare third victory at The Players Championship, produced a mixed bag as he opened with an even-par 72.

“I did some good things, changing weather out there, but, overall, I felt like I gave away some shots,” said Scheffler, who clinched his 20th career victory on the PGA Tour at The American Express in January. “Hoping to clean it up a little bit the next few days.

“It can get very challenging when you get some high winds like we had this morning. It can get even more challenging when you’re playing from the rough, which I felt like I was doing a bit too much of today. … I struck it better on the back nine. Just made a few mental errors and just need to be a little bit sharper the next few days.”

The elite field is one of the strongest in the game with the top 10 golfers in the world rankings — and 47 of the top 50 — assembled at TPC Sawgrass for the tournament’s 52nd edition.

However, World No. 4 Collin Morikawa withdrew from the tournament due to a back injury after playing just one hole. After teeing off on the 10th hole and making a par, he experienced some discomfort while taking a practice swing on the 11th tee box.

“I felt fine in warm-up,” Morikawa said. “Like nothing’s been any signs of back problems. And teed it up on 11, and took one practice swing, and I just knew it was gone. Like I just had the feeling before when it’s happened. And I just, I can’t swing through it. Trust me, I would play if I could. It’s just the worst thing in the world.”

Also on Thursday, Ryan Fox withdrew due to illness prior to the start of the opening round. He was replaced in the field by David Ford.

–Mark Lamport-Stokes, Field Level Media