Haliburton trolls Kentucky alums after Iowa State 82-63 upset
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- Iowa State routed Kentucky 82-63 in the second round of the men's NCAA tournament, led by 26 points from Tamin Lipsey and 20 from Milan Momcilovic, with Lipsey adding 10 assists and five steals
- Tamin Lipsey became just the third player since 1986 to post 25+ points, 10+ assists, and 5+ steals in a March Madness game, according to ESPN Research
- Kentucky's 19-point loss was its largest in an NCAA tournament game since a 1972 Elite Eight defeat to Florida State
- Tyrese Haliburton, an Iowa State alum and Indiana Pacers star, posted on X that he went to text his Kentucky friends 'and forgot they think they Arkansas alum now,' referencing John Calipari's April 2024 departure to Arkansas
- Former Kentucky players have publicly aligned with Arkansas since Calipari's move, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander telling the Thunder he'd pick 'either Arkansas or Kentucky,' Cason Wallace simply saying 'Arkansas,' P.J. Washington visiting Calipari in Razorbacks gear, and Reed Sheppard wearing an Arkansas shirt with Kentucky pants when the programs met
- Haliburton spent two seasons at Iowa State before the 2020 draft and lost in the first round in his only prior March Madness appearance in 2019, making Sunday's rout a rare personal highlight on the tournament stage.
Why it matters: Haliburton's troll crystallizes a real shift in college basketball's allegiance map: Calipari's Kentucky-to-Arkansas move in April 2024 has already turned a generation of NBA Wildcats into de facto Razorbacks fans, and the source documents at least four former Kentucky stars publicly siding with Arkansas — a cultural transfer the dominant coverage treats as a punchline but is functionally a recruiting and brand win for Arkansas.
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