Iowa State All-American Joshua Jefferson 'is unlikely to play' against Kentucky

Kentucky and Iowa State will meet in the NCAA Tournament for the third time on Sunday afternoon. The No. 2 seed Cyclones will have to beat the No. 7 seed Wildcats without their best player in the lineup.

Iowa State forward Joshua Jefferson suffered an ankle injury before the first media timeout in Friday’s blowout win over No. 15 seed Tennessee State. Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reports that the former Saint Mary’s transfer is doubtful for the Round of 32 tilt in St. Louis.

Iowa State's Joshua Jefferson (ankle) is unlikely to play tomorrow against Kentucky, source told @TheFieldOf68.

Jefferson will continue to receive treatment prior to the game, but the chances of him being able to play against the Wildcats on Sunday are slim.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 21, 2026

Joshua Jefferson entered the NCAA Tournament averaging 16.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists on .470/.345/.700 shooting splits in 31.8 minutes per game. The senior earned second-team All-American honors this season. Jefferson currently ranks No. 2 in KenPom’s Player of the Year standings. Jefferson is a pure stat sheet stuffer who ranked top-10 in the Big 12 in defensive rebound percentage, assist rate, steal percentage, fouls drawn per 40 minutes, and free throw rate. Jefferson recorded two triple-doubles in conference play this season.

Kentucky is taking no chances. The Wildcats are not altering their preparation.

“We’ll prepare as if he’s playing. You go through this throughout the season where you’re kind of prepared for multiple potential opponents. The great thing about Iowa State, and I think what T.J. (Otzelberger) has done so masterfully at Iowa State is they have such an engrained identity of who they are. Clearly, Jefferson is a massive key to what they do. And so understand, I would — like he’s a special, special player, but Iowa State is going to be Iowa State whoever T.J. rolls out on the court,” Kentucky head coach Mark Pope explained on Saturday. “He could probably go grab five guys from the rec center and give them a week and they would come out there and just be an incredibly intense defensive juggernaut that was finding ways to score in big ways.”

“So we’re preparing for what Iowa State is, and certainly preparing for him being in the game and out of the game, and that’s pretty much what we’re doing.”

Kentucky knows that Iowa State will be a challenge. There is no denying that the challenge is notably different without Joshua Jefferson on the court.

Round of 32 TV Schedule

Game	Location	Tip Time	Channel
No. 7 Miami vs. No. 2 Purdue	St. Louis	12:10 p.m. ET	CBS
No. 7 Kentucky vs. No. 2 Iowa State	St. Louis	2:45 p.m. ET	CBS
No. 5 St. John’s vs. No. 4 Kansas	San Diego	5:15 p.m. ET	CBS
No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 3 Virginia	Philadelphia	6:10 p.m. ET	TNT
No. 9 Iowa vs. No. 1 Florida	Tampa	7:10 p.m. ET	TBS
No. 9 Utah State vs. No. 1 Arizona	San Diego	7:45 p.m. ET	TruTV
No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 2 UConn	Philadelphia	8:45 p.m. ET	TNT
No. 5 Texas Tech vs. No. 4 Alabama	Tampa	9:45 p.m. ET	TBS