5 things you need to know from UK’s 82-63 season-ending loss to Iowa State
Five things you need to know from No. 7 seed Kentucky’s 82-63 loss vs. No. 2 seed Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region round of 32:
1. One million dollars per win. With its defeat to Iowa State, Kentucky ends its season with a 22-14 record.
The Herald-Leader reported prior to the season that UK had spent $22 million in NIL funding in constructing its roster.
That means the Cats program essentially spent $1 million per win in 2025-26.
Suffice to say, return on investment will need to get better for Kentucky moving forward.
2. Kentucky ball security. Among conventional basketball statistics, the number of turnovers UK committed in games was a pretty telling indicator for how the Cats were going to fare.
In the 21 SEC games (regular season and conference tourney) UK played in 2025-26, the Cats were 9-1 when turning the ball over fewer than 10 times.
Kentucky was 3-8 when turning the ball over 10 times or more.
That figured to make Iowa State a problematic opponent for UK. The Cyclones entered the Kentucky game forcing an average of 15.3 turnovers a game.
As it turned out, Iowa State was a nightmare matchup for a UK team playing without a natural point guard.
By halftime, Iowa State had forced 12 Kentucky turnovers. That led to a 12-8 ISU edge in point off turnovers, which allowed the Cyclones to lead 31-30 at the half in spite of their making only 9 of 31 first-half shots, only 3 of 16 on 3-point attempts.
ISU forced eight more UK turnovers in half two. Those 20 Kentucky miscues turned into a 25-12 edge for Iowa State in points off of turnovers — and that pretty much decided the game.
3. Following greatness. Otega Oweh’s 35 points in UK’s 89-84 overtime win over Santa Clara in Friday’s NCAA tourney round of 64 is tied for the seventh best scoring game by a Kentucky player in the NCAA Tournament.
Of the other UK players in the top seven on the NCAA tourney single-game scoring list, Jack Givens, tied for second, scored 41 points in the 1978 NCAA title game.
Tied for fifth on the list, Dan Issel scored 36 points against Miami (Ohio) in 1969 in a NCAA tourney region consolation game (look those up, kids).
Joe Crawford, tied with Oweh for seventh on the list, scored his 35 points against Marquette in the 2008 round of 64 in a losing cause.
None of those three players played another game in their respective NCAA Tournaments after their scoring outbursts.
However, of the other four high NCAA Tournament scorers ahead of Oweh, Kentucky lost the ensuing March Madness game after their breakout performances in all cases.
• On March 12, 1970, Dan Issel scored 44 points in a 109-99 UK win over Notre Dame.
Next game: Issel scored 28 points prior to fouling out as Kentucky lost to Artis Gilmore and Jacksonville, 106-100, in the round of eight.
• On March, 16, 2002, Tayshaun Prince scored 41 points in an 87-72 win over Tulsa in the round of 32 in St. Louis.
Next game: Prince shot 6 of 16 and scored 17 points as UK fell to Maryland, 78-68, in the East Region semifinals.
• On March 24, 2017, DeAaron Fox rifled in 39 points in an 86-75 victory over UCLA in the round of 16.
Next game: Fox shot 5 of 14 and tallied 13 points as UK lost a heartbreaker, 75-73, to North Carolina in the Elite Eight.
• On March 15, 1968, Issel poured in 36 points in a 107-89 rout of Michigan in the round of 16.
Next game: Big Dan made only 7 of 19 shots and scored 19 points as the Cats were stunned in the round of eight at Memorial Coliseum by Ohio State, 82-81.
• On March 20, 2026, Oweh had 35 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to help UK survive No.10 seed Santa Clara in the round of 64.
Next game: Against No. 2 seed Iowa State in the round of 32, Oweh had 18 points on 8 -of-15 shooting in a loss.
4. Oweh on the all-time scoring list. The Kentucky star finished his two-season UK career with 1,255 points.
That is the most points ever scored by a player who played only two varsity seasons for UK.
For his Kentucky career, Oweh scored in double figures in 68 out of 72 games.
On the overall all-time Kentucky scoring list, Oweh stands 33rd. A 3-pointer he missed from the right corner in the game’s final seconds Sunday kept Oweh from passing John Pelphrey, 1,257 career points, for 32nd on the UK all-time scoring list.
Oweh, who scored 498 points in his first two college seasons while playing for Oklahoma, finished his overall college career with 1,753 points.
5. All-time wins race. Kentucky entered the 2025-26 season with an eight-victory edge over Kansas, 2,422 to 2,414, in the men’s Division I college basketball all-time wins race.
With its loss to Iowa State, UK (22-14) ends the current season with 2,444 all-time wins.
With it’s 67-65 loss to St. John’s Sunday in the round of 32, Kansas (24-11) ended the current season with 2,438 all-time wins.
The Jayhawks gained two games on the Cats in 2025-26. KU will enter next season six wins behind UK.
This story was originally published March 22, 2026 at 5:03 PM.
